Posts Tagged ‘Water’

Chasing Down Polluters in China’s Manufacturing Belt (Part 1 of 3)

Monday, October 10th, 2011

The past few months have been busy for the budding environmental organization Green Stone. First, they stopped a plan to cut down 1,000 trees for a new subway line in the city of Nanjing, in Jiangsu Province. Next, they exposed a case of persistent, carcinogenic water pollution in one of Apple’s printed circuit board supply chains in the city of Kunshan (see Apple Report). The day before I arrived for a three day visit last month, one of Nanjing’s largest corporations called the Green Stone office, asking what they could do to improve their pollution record. Meanwhile, the Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau has asked Green Stone to be patient as they work to address the hundreds of pollution information disclosures requested by the group. “I think they are kind of afraid of us,” Green Stone’s Director Li Chunhua laughed.

The key to Green Stone’s recent success is not necessarily experience (their staff of three are all in their mid-twenties) but courage, charisma and recruiting. On a windy Sunday morning, we met staff and a group of 25 water monitoring volunteers by the edge of the Qinhuai River, the main river that bisects Nanjing City.  Most of the volunteers were under thirty years of age, including a few new freshmen from nearby universities. Everyone’s spirits were high as we embarked on one of Green Stone’s bi-monthly “river walks,” to collect water quality samples using donated equipment, and to survey visitors to the river. Most were male retirees, folks who have been coming to the river in their leisure hour for decades. “The river stinks when it’s not flowing,” one of our survey participants observed. “It needs to flow. When it doesn’t move the pollution gets worse.”

The Qinhuai River flows into the much larger Yangtze, the source of Nanjing’s water supply. The Qinhuai used to be much more polluted, at least on the surface. In the past decade, Nanjing has spent hundreds of millions of US dollars to clean up the river. Upstream farms were shut down due to their use of agricultural chemicals, and wastewater infrastructure has been improved. During our river walk we observed garbage patrol boats with long-handled scoops picking up every visible scrap of trash.

But with water pollution, there is often more than what meets the eye. As we conducted our basic water quality tests, a volunteer from Nanjing University held a tiny bottle filled with pink water up to a laminated chart, to “read” the levels of dissolved oxygen in the sample. “It looks like a four,” he said, indicating a significantly depressed level of dissolved oxygen. Since there is little farming left on the Qinhuai, the problem is likely being caused by untreated urban sewage and runoff.

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Pacific Environment’s Partner Green Anhui Featured in Oscar Nominated Film

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

One Oscar apparently isn’t enough for filmmakers Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon.   Once again, the dedicated environmental documentarians have been nominated in the category of Best Documentary Short, this time for The Warriors of Qiugang.  The poignant film chronicles a small group of Chinese villagers’ 5-year battle to bring an end to lethal water pollution caused by three factories that had come to dominate their tiny hamlet.

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Celebrating World Wetlands Day, February 2, 2011

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Wetlands are an incredible environmental resource, providing critical habitat for countless animals and plant species, and natural water filtration and storage.  Wetlands help regulate water tables during floods and storm surges, and also serve an important carbon storage function. It is alarming, then, that our wetlands are degrading faster than any other ecosystem type, primarily due to climate change and development.

In honor of World Wetlands Day today, we at Pacific Environment would like to highlight some of the great work being done by our partners in wetlands around the Pacific Rim.  In particular, we would like to acknowledge the work of Dauria and the Rivers without Boundaries Coalition to assist WWF-Amur and the Daursky Biosphere Reserve in their efforts to protect the Ramsar wetlands within the transboundary Amur River basin in eastern Russia at the China-Russia border.  We would also like to acknowledge our partners in China, the China Mangrove Conservation Network, for their work on protecting ancient Looking-glass mangroves.

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Fighting dirty paper!

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Program Director at Wuhu Ecology Center

In China, the paper industry is considered highly polluting and energy intensive. Its COD emissions are ranked first among all industries. Anhui, in Eastern China, has a high concentration of paper companies, and the Wuhu Ecology Center focuses on the pollution problems associated with them. In the process of collecting information regarding papermaking companies in Anhui, Shandong Chenming Paper Group’s repeated violations of environmental regulations came to our attention. Within the paper industry, Chenming Paper Group is one of the biggest publicly traded companies. It has integrated pulp and paper-making production and is quickly becoming one of top 500 companies in China and one of the top 50 in the world. Chenming’s product is sold globally, including to the United States. (more…)

China Eco-Coalition Takes a Bite out of Apple

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

In a post here from last summer, Xiu Min Li, Pacific Environment China Program Director, covered an investigation by Chinese environmental groups into heavy metal pollution caused by manufacturers who supply parts to Apple Corporation.  4,000 Chinese suffered from lead poisoning in 2009, prompting the Alliance to investigate and embark on a letter-writing campaign to the companies who contract with those manufacturers.  Apple did not respond until it received nearly a thousand letters from American consumers, weeks after other companies that were investigated had all already responded to Alliance inquiries.  Late might be better than never, but it didn’t save Apple from a scathing review.

Last week, The Green Choice Alliance released a report called “The Other Side of Apple” in which they ranked the computer tech giant last among 29 multi-technology companies’ for response to public inquiry and investigation regarding pollution and working conditions at factories in their supply line.  The Alliance, a coalition of 36 Chinese environmental NGOs, is lead by The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), a Pacific Environment partner.

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My Visit to China – Culture Shock or Reality

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

What is your definition of clean water? After visiting, hearing and reading up on stories about water pollution in China and actually visiting some of the villages myself, I wondered why locals are so nonchalant about the situation. Is it reality, resilience or helplessness?

I took the following photos on a recent trip to China to illustrate how water resources are used by locals. Some of the images are eye-opening and remind me of how fortunate I am to have clean water here in the United States.

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“The Warriors of Qiugang” , A Chinese Environmental Documentary Film Competes for Oscar Nomination

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

 

A documentary short film about an environmental campaign that our partner Green Anhui worked on has been selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as a finalist to compete for an Oscar in 2011.  The film, “The Warriors of Qiugang” is about a local village in China who stood up against three factories that have been polluting their local farmland and waterways.  This is a big deal as the film nicely illustrates the type of environmental and social justice battles that are often fought in China.  Since 2006, our partner Green Anhui has worked with Qiugang Village and their leader Zhang Gongli (aka the “warriors” profiled in the film) to fight against the three local factories. Their fight eventually led to the shutdown and relocation of these factories.

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Look for self-help in time of disaster, not the party

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

 

Grandpa Hu (not his real name) said “my loyalty always lies with Chairman Mao.” His red pin emblazoned with the golden head of Mao proudly hung on his left chest. It sparkled in the sun, its statement pronounced by the backdrop of his dark blue vest. Grandpa Hu wore a pair of wide-rimmed Polaroid sunglasses, which were unusually fancy for a retired peasant. He seemed healthy and strong. His description of how his family was unaffected by the flood sounded proud and almost cheery. Grandpa Hu said he used to work for the Forestry Department, until they decided they needed someone who was literate to do the job. He was told to retire early. His accent was very thick and I had to wait for my host to transcribe his words to match my speculation of what he may have said. (more…)

Locals participate in clean-up efforts in Dalian, China

Friday, August 13th, 2010

The place where fishermen returned the collected crude oil has a nice name, Golden Bay Bridge. To 35 year old fisherman Cui Zhanyou, it has become a bridge of no return.

On the evening of July 27th, when Cui was transporting barrels of oil to the collection center, his boat was overturned by rough waves. After days of searching, Cui’s family still could not find a trace of him. (more…)

Separate Oil and State

Monday, August 9th, 2010

 

While Greenpeace activists await the results of their medical check-ups after being exposed to Dalian’s crude oil and as several fire fighters recover from their injuries, those responsible for the Dalian ecological nightmare act as if the oil stains had been removed from their own feathers.

Oil along Dalian Beach (photo by Wen Bo)

Chinese media outlet CBN A-Views reported that on August 3rd, the Dalian government welcomed PetroChina’s Chairman Jiang Jiemin and his delegation at the Dalian Shangri-La Hotel  and expressed gratitude towards the oil giant’s contribution to Dalian’s economy.

Chinese netizens poured their outcries over cyberspace denouncing PetroChina for its lack of courage to admit its responsibility. Many demanded a formal and public apology from the company and requested compensation for the victims and the marine environment of Dalian.

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