China To Clear "1,000-Year-Old" Trash From Mega-Dam

Reuters ^ | December 13, 2007 | Reuters

[JACKRUSSELL]

(BEIJING) - Officials running China's huge Three Gorges Dam have vowed to clear the last of the "1,000-year old" trash mountains fouling the reservoir, state media reported on Thursday.

The 300,000-tonne slope of garbage teetering on the shores of the Yangtze River dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and has been rising rapidly in recent years, an official at Luoqi Town in southwest China told the Xinhua news agency.

"The large amount of domestic refuse exposed on the bank emits a foul odor and threatens the water quality of the Yangtze," the report said.

Environmental problems are common around the vast dam, as are official announcements of their impending solution.

Residents of Luoqi have no where else to dump garbage and every day they add over 400 kg (880 lb) to the rotting pile, the official said.

Residents will get an environmentally clean trash station early next year, and the ancient garbage mountain will be cleared by September, the official said.

Waste, industrial scrap and untreated sewage seeping into the Three Gorges Dam are just a few of the environmental hazards around the controversial project, due for completion in a year or two.

In September, a senior dam official warned of environmental havoc if the problems were not defused. But since then officials have said loud and often that the threats are under control.

[JACKRUSSELL]

The Three Gorges Dam Project discharges water, in Yichang, central China's Hubei province July 22, 2007. Officials running China's huge Three Gorges Dam have vowed to clear the last of the "1,000-year old" trash mountains fouling the reservoir, state media reported on Thursday. (REUTERS/China Daily)

[JACKRUSSELL]

(Please FReepmail me if you would like to be on or off of the list.)

[spokeshave]

Looks like dirty water to me.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Looks like dirty water to me."

That's clean compared to the rest of China's waterways.

[kinoxi]

Waste, industrial scrap and untreated sewage seeping into the Three Gorges Dam are just a few of the environmental hazards around the controversial project, due for completion in a year or two.

Makes me want to wash my clothes in it, after I bathe in it and drink out of it of course. I'm surprised I haven't seen this sewage in the form of bottled 'oriental' juice. Or maybe I have...

[Wil H]

"The large amount of domestic refuse exposed on the bank emits a foul odor and threatens the water quality of the Yangtze," the report said.

Eureka!

We've found the source of Global Warming!

[antiRepublicrat]

It might actually be interesting to see what’s near the bottom of that pile. Who knows what someone threw away 1,000 years ago.

[aruanan]

The 300,000-tonne slope of garbage teetering on the shores of the Yangtze River dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and has been rising rapidly in recent years, an official at Luoqi Town in southwest China told the Xinhua news agency.

"Yeah, we've screwed everything else up, we may as well destroy this archeological treasurehouse, too. Red Power, baby!"

[Robert A Cook PE]

Does this writer understand ANYTHING about the actual story?

A 1000-year-old “trash dump” is a priceless archaeological “stack” of information that MUST be researched carefully - even the parts more modern in time have to get cleared carefully to understand what’s underneath. Obviously, it IS a trash dump and doesn’t need to be “preserved” for all time, just researched for information.

Also - 800 lbs? What the heck is he thinking? Per person? No. Per person per week? Did he mean 800,000 lbs? Not enough. 800 tons? That too isn’t enough to make sense.

Is the trash pile threatening to “landslide” into the river/lake like the coal tip piles in WV and Scotland?

[Robert A Cook PE]

I “think” that’s the silt in the water - but it is coming through the turbine-generators and will destroy the impellor blades quickly with that much loading.

[yankeedame]

"The large amount of domestic refuse exposed on the bank emits a foul odor and threatens the water quality of the Yangtze," the report said.

If this thing "threatens the water quality of the Yangtze" then we're in big trouble, as the Yangtze -- all the way up and down its length -- is already one of the most polluted rivers on earth.

("Paging Mr. Gore. Paging Mr. Al Gore. Please pick up the white courtesy telephone.")

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Exactly what I was thinking as I read the article. In Canada, if a 1,000 yr. old midden were discovered at an engineering project, everything would be shut down pending archaeological studies. Actually, no development permit would have been issued, until any archaeological sites were studied, or protected, or both.

It’s amazing that the writer didn’t pick up on this point. Perhaps it’s a case of ideologically induced blindness.

[Jeff Chandler]

Dirty water through a fish-eye lens.

[sionnsar]

Looks like dirty water to me.

Hard to tell. The Danube looked pretty dirty on Wednesday (it actually looked worse than this):

[Republican Party Reptile]

that’s what I thought when visiting Vienna the first time about, oh, 25 years ago - the Blue Danube is dirty brown water?

[sionnsar]

So I’m not the only one!