Two General Electric Press releases announcing their recent activities in China.
Of course, it goes without saying that a press release is different from a news story. These are shared without further comment.
Peter Huston
===
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080528005423&newsLang=en
May 28, 2008 05:04 AM Eastern Daylight Time
GE Water Solution to Help Elion Chemical Co. Protect China’s Yellow River from Pollution
Ecomagination-Certified System Will Eliminate over a Billion Gallons of Wastewater Discharge, Protect Environment and Reduce Water Demand
BEIJING, China & TREVOSE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--One of China’s largest polyvinyl chloride and ion membrane caustic soda producers, Elion Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. in Erdos City, Inner Mongolia will virtually eliminate its wastewater discharge to the Yellow River using an advanced water reuse and wastewater evaporation system from GE Water & Process Technologies. The progressive project marks the growing use of these ecomagination-certified technologies—already installed at hundreds of industrial sites worldwide—to meet increasingly stringent environmental standards for wastewater treatment and water reuse.
Once completed in early-2010, the system will enable Elion Chemical Industry Co. Ltd to protect water quality in the 5,500-km (3,400-mi) Yellow River, which suffers from rising wastewater discharge due to rapid economic growth and urban development. The GE water reuse system will also dramatically reduce the amount of water that the chemical plant withdraws from the river, alleviating the persistent decline in the river’s water flow from overuse and drought.
Decreasing industrial water demand is critical to ensure continued economic growth in Erdos City and throughout China’s water-scarce northern regions. The rapidly growing city is currently facing a shortfall in its water supply of about 272 million cubic meters (71.9 billion gallons) per year needed to achieve the level of development indicated in its 2010-2015 plan.
GE’s advanced water technologies will recycle about 90 percent of the wastewater from Elion Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., or about 4.45 million cubic meters (1.17 billion gallons) of water per year. Combining ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membranes with thermal evaporator technology from GE’s broad portfolio, the system will produce high purity reusable water that will help ease demand on the city’s water supply and provide environmental benefits to the Yellow River.
“GE’s broad portfolio of advanced water treatment solutions can enable cities along the Yellow River and throughout China to build systems that will help them to meet the environmental goals set out in China’s five year plan,” said Steve Fludder, vice-president global sales, GE Water & Process Technologies. “We are committed to supporting China’s efforts to restore and protect the health and availability of its water resources and are investing heavily in our operations in the country. Some recent GE initiatives include a new China Technology Center of Excellence for Water Reuse and a new manufacturing plant in Wuxi.”
"We are extremely proud to be the first PVC manufacturer in China to implement GE's advanced zero-liquid discharge system," said Wang Wenbiao, Chairman of China Elion Resources Group. "This project will set new environmental and operational benchmarks for Chinese industry and will help the nation to protect the quantity and quality of our water resources."
Over the past several years, Inner Mongolia’s gross domestic product has grown by an average of more than 16 percent per year, well above rates in the rest of the country. As water demand in the province continues to rise and place increasing pressure on the Yellow River, GE’s broad portfolio will play a major role in helping industries to adequately treat and reuse water. GE’s water reuse and ZLD systems are used throughout the world to reduce water demand and protect the environment for industries such as oil extraction and refining, power generation, chemical manufacturing, coal liquefaction, fertilizer production, and microelectronics manufacturing.
ABOUT GE WATER & PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES
A world leader in membrane and filtration, diagnostic tools, specialty chemicals, mobile water, service, and financing, GE Water and Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) offers the broadest portfolio of global expertise and local capabilities. We invest in forward looking water and process technologies, leveraging the best practices of GE’s ecomagination, to help customers balance environmental and economic goals. Our innovative team develops unique partnerships and delivers reliable, long-term solutions for communities, governments and industry that maximize water and energy resources. www.ge.com/water.
GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing and media content, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
Contacts
General Electric, China
Geoff Li, +86 391-818-9557 mobile
geoff.li@geahk.ge.com
http://www.ge.com
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080528005452&newsLang=en
May 28, 2008 05:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time
GE Donates Water Treatment Technology to Chinese Communities as Legacy Gift in Honor of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
GE Provides China’s First Mobile Water Solution to Supply Clean Drinking Water to Remote Areas
BEIJING & BRUSSELS, Belgium & WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE, a worldwide partner of the Olympic Games, today announced it has donated two advanced water treatment systems to provide clean drinking water for more than 60,000 Chinese residents in Dongguang City and surrounding villages. Dedicated as a gift to the people of China, the systems are designed to help protect human health by removing fluoride for clean, sustainable potable water and to demonstrate how GE’s broad portfolio of water treatment technologies can be quickly and cost-effectively used by China’s communities.
Working in partnership with the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) in China, GE, the official provider to the Olympic Games of water treatment facilities and services, will install and startup a full-scale water treatment plant in Dongguang City during the summer of 2008. GE is also supplying a mobile water treatment plant that will purify water for neighboring villages. This is the first time that an advanced mobile water treatment system will be used in China to bring clean water to areas that are not within reach of the nation’s centralized municipal water infrastructure. GE’s mobile water treatment solutions can treat virtually any water source and could potentially play a key role in helping China meet its goal of providing safe, reliable water supplies by 2015 to more than 300 million people living in rural areas.
“GE is extremely proud to celebrate the 2008 Olympic Games with our donation of ecomagination water treatment technology to the people of China,” said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. “We are committed to leveraging GE’s broad portfolio of water solutions to help China achieve its clean water objectives for urban and rural citizens. The experience that we gain from this project will strengthen our ability to further help China and other nations leapfrog traditional infrastructure challenges to deliver clean water to hundreds of millions of people in the world’s remote communities.”
“These technologies will be a great benefit to the 60,000 Chinese citizens both now and after the Olympic Games in years to come,” said Li Yangbin, Director of the Center for Rural Drinking Water Safety, Ministry of Water Resources. “We are excited to collaborate with GE on this project to help accelerate a clean water source to thousands of people.”
Incorporating GE’s ecomagination-certified reverse osmosis membranes, the water treatment plants will remove virtually all bacteria, viruses, particles and dissolved pollutants from the water. In Dongguang City, treated water will be distributed through municipal infrastructure, while in outlying villages, the mobile treatment system will make regular visits to fill storage tanks with treated water. GE offers the world’s largest fleet of mobile water solutions that enable quick, response to for a full range of temporary or long-term water and wastewater treatment needs.
The advanced water treatment technologies that GE is donating today are part of a larger effort to help China implement an environmentally sustainable water management solution during the Olympic Games and beyond. The company has implemented several ecomagination water solutions for the Olympic Games including:
* China’s first advanced membrane rainwater recycling system at Beijing’s National Stadium to help maintain a sustainable supply of water for landscape irrigation, facility maintenance and a fire-suppression system;
* An ultrafiltration water reuse system at the Qinghe Water Reclamation Plant, which will recycle municipal wastewater for landscaping purposes during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games; and
* An energy-efficient nanofiltration system that provides up to 16 cubic meters of clean water per hour—equal to 32,000 bottles of water – for the National Stadium.
GE is the exclusive provider of a wide range of innovative products and services that are integral to staging a successful Olympic Games. GE works closely with host countries, cities and organizing committees to provide infrastructure solutions for Olympic venues including power, lighting, water treatment, transportation and security, and to supply hospitals with ultrasound and MRI equipment to help doctors treat athletes. In addition, NBC Universal, a division of GE, is the exclusive U.S. media partner of the Olympic Games, with its partnership also extending through 2012. For more information, please visit www.ge.com/olympicgames.
GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing and media content, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
Contacts
GE, China
Geoff Li, +86 21 6288 1088 ext 588
+86 1391-818-9557 mobile
geoff.li@geahk.ge.com
or
GE Corporate
Lisa Lanspery, +1-203-373-3447
lisa.lanspery@ge.com
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
China Water: May 28, 2008: Evacuation due to flood fears in quake zone.
A terrible tragedy.
Posted without further comment.
Peter Huston
===
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBr_dOzJ9Pnc_U9gSgtTgE-cR-KwD90U6KO80
China evacuates villagers after new flood threat
By AUDRA ANG – 21 hours ago
MIANYANG, China (AP) — About 80,000 people were evacuated Tuesday from downstream of an unstable earthquake-created dam that is threatening to collapse, and troops rushed to carve a trench to drain the water before it floods the valley.
The threat of flooding from dozens of lakes swelling behind walls of mud and rubble that have plugged narrow valleys in parts of the disaster zone is adding a new worry for millions of survivors.
More than 30 villages were emptied and the people were being sent to camps like the one outside Jiangyou, where an Associated Press reporter saw 12-15 people crammed into each of about 40 government-issued tents pitched on a hillside overlooking the river.
"We were told that so far it is the safest place for us to stay if the dam of the lake crashes," said Liu Yuhua, whose village of Huangshi was one of those emptied. "But we will have to move farther uphill if the situation turns out to be worse."
Troops on Tuesday used explosives to blow up tree stumps that were hampering heavy-duty excavators that were airlifted by helicopter in recent days to the newly formed Tangjiashan lake near the town of Beichuan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The magnitude-7.9 quake that struck Sichuan province May 12 sent a mass of dirt and rocks tumbling in the valley about two miles above the town in a spot not reached by roads, plugging a river that is now forming the lake.
Elsewhere in the region, workers also used explosives to level some buildings that were left teetering by the quake — a further sign that officials have stopped rescue and recovery efforts in some places.
The number of deaths from the quake climbed toward an expected toll of 80,000 or more. China's Cabinet said Tuesday that 67,183 people were confirmed killed, with 20,790 still missing.
Aftershocks continued to rattle the region, causing more damage and injuries and jangling the already-frayed nerves of survivors. Two temblors Tuesday caused more than 420,000 houses to collapse in Qingchuan county, Xinhua reported. Sixty-three people were injured, including six who were critically hurt.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured a magnitude-5.2 aftershock just after 4 p.m. (4 a.m. EDT) and one measuring 5.7 about a half-hour later.
In a live broadcast, state television showed heavy earth-moving equipment being used to carve a 200-yard channel to drain the water from the Tangjiashan lake.
"We are prepared to get rid of the trees by chopping and explosion. After that, the second batch of equipment will be moved in," Liu Ning, chief engineer at the Ministry of Water Resources, was quoted as saying on CCTV.
Downstream, officials rushed to evacuate people in the path of potential floodwaters. Xinhua said emergency workers labored into the night to try to get 80,000 people out. Another group of about 80,000 have already been moved out of the valley, it said.
At Tangjiashan lake, hundreds of troops were working around the clock to dig a channel that would divert the rising waters before they breach the top of the rubble wall. Officials fear the loose soil and debris wall could crumble easily if the water starts cascading over the top, and send a torrent flooding down into the valley.
The lake now holds 34 billion gallons of water and was rising by more than 3 feet every 24 hours, Xinhua reported.
Tangjiashan is the largest of some 35 lakes created by rubble blocking rivers in the quake zone. Some rising floodwaters have already swallowed villages, though only Tangjiashan was posing a risk of another big catastrophe.
Adding to the urgency, thunderstorms were forecast for parts of Sichuan this week — a foretaste of the summer rainy season that accounts for more than 70 percent of the 24 inches of rain that falls on the area each year.
Man-made dams in the mountainous region were also weakened by the quake, although officials said there is no major threat.
At one dam site near the town of Mianyang, villagers workings in nearby rice fields said cracks had appeared in the dam wall after the quake but that government workers had reinforced it with steel rods.
In the town of Yingxiu, explosives were used to demolish some damaged buildings, a new element to the massive cleanup operation. Teams have been pulling down creaky buildings across Sichuan using mostly excavators, bulldozers and other heavy machinery.
Also Tuesday, health officials said higher-than-normal rates of stomach pains and fever had been reported among the millions of quake survivors, but that no major disease outbreaks had occurred.
About 5 million people were left homeless by the quake, and many are living in tents or makeshift camps clustered throughout the disaster zone.
Qi Xiaoqiu, the director of disease prevention at the Health Ministry, said the quake had knocked out much of the region's health infrastructure. He said 12 field hospitals had been erected and tens of thousands of health professionals sent into the zone.
"With the destruction by the quake, the living and sanitary conditions have worsened for the local population," Qi said in Beijing. "Their physical conditions are weakened, (they are) more vulnerable to disease."
Diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and diarrhea remained a threat, but so far no outbreaks had been reported, he said.
Posted without further comment.
Peter Huston
===
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBr_dOzJ9Pnc_U9gSgtTgE-cR-KwD90U6KO80
China evacuates villagers after new flood threat
By AUDRA ANG – 21 hours ago
MIANYANG, China (AP) — About 80,000 people were evacuated Tuesday from downstream of an unstable earthquake-created dam that is threatening to collapse, and troops rushed to carve a trench to drain the water before it floods the valley.
The threat of flooding from dozens of lakes swelling behind walls of mud and rubble that have plugged narrow valleys in parts of the disaster zone is adding a new worry for millions of survivors.
More than 30 villages were emptied and the people were being sent to camps like the one outside Jiangyou, where an Associated Press reporter saw 12-15 people crammed into each of about 40 government-issued tents pitched on a hillside overlooking the river.
"We were told that so far it is the safest place for us to stay if the dam of the lake crashes," said Liu Yuhua, whose village of Huangshi was one of those emptied. "But we will have to move farther uphill if the situation turns out to be worse."
Troops on Tuesday used explosives to blow up tree stumps that were hampering heavy-duty excavators that were airlifted by helicopter in recent days to the newly formed Tangjiashan lake near the town of Beichuan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The magnitude-7.9 quake that struck Sichuan province May 12 sent a mass of dirt and rocks tumbling in the valley about two miles above the town in a spot not reached by roads, plugging a river that is now forming the lake.
Elsewhere in the region, workers also used explosives to level some buildings that were left teetering by the quake — a further sign that officials have stopped rescue and recovery efforts in some places.
The number of deaths from the quake climbed toward an expected toll of 80,000 or more. China's Cabinet said Tuesday that 67,183 people were confirmed killed, with 20,790 still missing.
Aftershocks continued to rattle the region, causing more damage and injuries and jangling the already-frayed nerves of survivors. Two temblors Tuesday caused more than 420,000 houses to collapse in Qingchuan county, Xinhua reported. Sixty-three people were injured, including six who were critically hurt.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured a magnitude-5.2 aftershock just after 4 p.m. (4 a.m. EDT) and one measuring 5.7 about a half-hour later.
In a live broadcast, state television showed heavy earth-moving equipment being used to carve a 200-yard channel to drain the water from the Tangjiashan lake.
"We are prepared to get rid of the trees by chopping and explosion. After that, the second batch of equipment will be moved in," Liu Ning, chief engineer at the Ministry of Water Resources, was quoted as saying on CCTV.
Downstream, officials rushed to evacuate people in the path of potential floodwaters. Xinhua said emergency workers labored into the night to try to get 80,000 people out. Another group of about 80,000 have already been moved out of the valley, it said.
At Tangjiashan lake, hundreds of troops were working around the clock to dig a channel that would divert the rising waters before they breach the top of the rubble wall. Officials fear the loose soil and debris wall could crumble easily if the water starts cascading over the top, and send a torrent flooding down into the valley.
The lake now holds 34 billion gallons of water and was rising by more than 3 feet every 24 hours, Xinhua reported.
Tangjiashan is the largest of some 35 lakes created by rubble blocking rivers in the quake zone. Some rising floodwaters have already swallowed villages, though only Tangjiashan was posing a risk of another big catastrophe.
Adding to the urgency, thunderstorms were forecast for parts of Sichuan this week — a foretaste of the summer rainy season that accounts for more than 70 percent of the 24 inches of rain that falls on the area each year.
Man-made dams in the mountainous region were also weakened by the quake, although officials said there is no major threat.
At one dam site near the town of Mianyang, villagers workings in nearby rice fields said cracks had appeared in the dam wall after the quake but that government workers had reinforced it with steel rods.
In the town of Yingxiu, explosives were used to demolish some damaged buildings, a new element to the massive cleanup operation. Teams have been pulling down creaky buildings across Sichuan using mostly excavators, bulldozers and other heavy machinery.
Also Tuesday, health officials said higher-than-normal rates of stomach pains and fever had been reported among the millions of quake survivors, but that no major disease outbreaks had occurred.
About 5 million people were left homeless by the quake, and many are living in tents or makeshift camps clustered throughout the disaster zone.
Qi Xiaoqiu, the director of disease prevention at the Health Ministry, said the quake had knocked out much of the region's health infrastructure. He said 12 field hospitals had been erected and tens of thousands of health professionals sent into the zone.
"With the destruction by the quake, the living and sanitary conditions have worsened for the local population," Qi said in Beijing. "Their physical conditions are weakened, (they are) more vulnerable to disease."
Diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and diarrhea remained a threat, but so far no outbreaks had been reported, he said.
Taiwan Water: May 28, 2008: rates will not rise.
At last! A good solid Taiwan-related piece of water news. (Being a former resident of Taiwan, of course, I want to cover their water as well as the other nation's in this region.)
Posted without further comment.
Peter Huston
===
http://english.rti.org.tw/Content/GetSingleNews.aspx?ContentID=58558
TAIWAN WATER
05/26/2008
icon Forward | iconComment
Taiwan's water rates not to be raised now
The government will not increase water rates for the time being. The Minister of Economic Affairs said the decision came amid mounting concerns over upcoming gasoline and electricity hikes and an already rising inflation.
He said to cope with inflation, the government would work to enhance economic growth and increase people's incomes. Gas and electricity prices will be increased from June and July, respectively.
Posted without further comment.
Peter Huston
===
http://english.rti.org.tw/Content/GetSingleNews.aspx?ContentID=58558
TAIWAN WATER
05/26/2008
icon Forward | iconComment
Taiwan's water rates not to be raised now
The government will not increase water rates for the time being. The Minister of Economic Affairs said the decision came amid mounting concerns over upcoming gasoline and electricity hikes and an already rising inflation.
He said to cope with inflation, the government would work to enhance economic growth and increase people's incomes. Gas and electricity prices will be increased from June and July, respectively.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Korea Water: May 27, 2008: Canal project developments.
Two stories, one an editorial, on recent developments in the controversy surrounding the proposed canal project in Korea.
Posted without comment.
Peter Huston
---
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200805/200805260017.html
Canal Opponents Unconvinced by Change of Plan
Opposition to the cross-country canal project is growing even after President Lee Myung-bak last Wednesday said he is putting his original plan to connect all the major water systems across the country on the back burner.
Lee said he plans instead to improve environments in four major rivers -- the Han, the Nakdong, the Geum, and the Yeongsan rivers -- apparently in preparation for the connection of these waterways later. This suggests he basically revised the project from wholesale to gradual implementation -- a change critics feel is tactical rather than substantial.
One researcher at a government-funded think tank has openly said the “real purpose” of connecting a few waterways and dredging the four major rivers is to build the cross-country canal in the end.
Kim I-tae, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Construction Technology, in an article posted on a portal site last Friday said the "table of contents" in the government's river revitalization plan has been revised, but not the content itself.
"I’m being asked almost every day by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs to formulate answers to the arguments of opponents, but I can't come up with alternatives to outsmart them," he said. Most damagingly, he adds, "What claims to be a 10-year study (on the canal's benefits) by experts has no substance."
The ministry on April 17 outsourced research on the government's comprehensive plan to connect waterways and manage the five largest rivers to KICT. A water quality expert, Kim has been participating in this research project.
The ministry denies putting any pressure on the think tank. KICT vice president Woo Hyo-seop said the research merely aims to find out whether the canal is helpful to flood control and river improvement. “It's inconceivable that the ongoing research is based on a premeditated conclusion,” he added.
Kim's open criticism has fueled an anti-canal campaign. His article had been read by more than 370,000 web users as of Sunday afternoon, and more than 35,000 have joined an online signature collection campaign “to protect Kim I-tae.”
A senior government official said, "At present, any comment on the grand canal by the government sparks further opposition. It seems hard to make predictions on any schedule or plan related to the grand canal project for the time being."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
===
EDITORIAL
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200805/200805260024.html
Is the Government Asking Experts to Sell Their Souls?
Canal Opponents Unconvinced by Change of Plan
Kim I-tae, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Construction Technology, posted an article on the Internet claiming that the government’s plan to first revitalize the four main rivers -- the Han, the Nakdong, the Geum, and the Yeongsan rivers -- in the country is actually part of creeping efforts to build the cross-Korea canal, even as the government is ostensibly backing off from it. “I am being asked almost every day by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs to give the right answers to the arguments of the opponents, but no matter how much I squeeze my brain, I cannot come up with an alternative,” he said. Experts, such as scientists working for state-run agencies, ought to offer proper directions to replace wrong government policies, but the Lee Myung-bak administration appears to be pushing scientists to give up their souls, Kim said.
In a meeting with provincial government officials from Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province on May 21, President Lee said the connection of the Han and Nakdong rivers, the core of the project, may have to be postponed since it seems to worry people. He said he would first pursue renovation and dredge the four major rivers and restore shipping lanes. Some interpret the president’s latest comments as a sign that he has given up on the canal project, but others believe he is trying to tackle the renovation and clean-up projects first so as to push ahead with the mega-project later.
The government has been saying it would pursue the canal project using private capital. If it uses taxpayers’ money to renovate and clean up the four major rivers and then links the Han and Nakdong rivers later using private capital, then it will end up using taxes to do something it had promised not to do with public funds. It will end up being criticized for using illicit means to make an economically unfeasible project look more attractive to private builders.
The canal needs dredged river beds deep enough to allow 2,500-ton container ships to pass through and requires the construction of reservoirs in order to store water in various locations. Routine renovations of rivers do not require the creation of reservoirs, and this type of project will require only small-scale dredging. If this is followed by large-scale dredging later, in order to allow the passage of large container vessels, money will be spent twice. That is no way to pursue state projects.
Last year, KICT got in trouble by issuing a report, along with the Korea Water Resources Corporation and the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, that the grand canal lacked economic feasibility. Kim claims that the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs is now bullying KICT to come up with alternatives to beat the arguments of opponents of the project. If that is true, then the “soulless” public servants working for the ministry are telling scientists at KICT to sell their souls as well. We must get to the bottom of this.
Posted without comment.
Peter Huston
---
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200805/200805260017.html
Canal Opponents Unconvinced by Change of Plan
Opposition to the cross-country canal project is growing even after President Lee Myung-bak last Wednesday said he is putting his original plan to connect all the major water systems across the country on the back burner.
Lee said he plans instead to improve environments in four major rivers -- the Han, the Nakdong, the Geum, and the Yeongsan rivers -- apparently in preparation for the connection of these waterways later. This suggests he basically revised the project from wholesale to gradual implementation -- a change critics feel is tactical rather than substantial.
One researcher at a government-funded think tank has openly said the “real purpose” of connecting a few waterways and dredging the four major rivers is to build the cross-country canal in the end.
Kim I-tae, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Construction Technology, in an article posted on a portal site last Friday said the "table of contents" in the government's river revitalization plan has been revised, but not the content itself.
"I’m being asked almost every day by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs to formulate answers to the arguments of opponents, but I can't come up with alternatives to outsmart them," he said. Most damagingly, he adds, "What claims to be a 10-year study (on the canal's benefits) by experts has no substance."
The ministry on April 17 outsourced research on the government's comprehensive plan to connect waterways and manage the five largest rivers to KICT. A water quality expert, Kim has been participating in this research project.
The ministry denies putting any pressure on the think tank. KICT vice president Woo Hyo-seop said the research merely aims to find out whether the canal is helpful to flood control and river improvement. “It's inconceivable that the ongoing research is based on a premeditated conclusion,” he added.
Kim's open criticism has fueled an anti-canal campaign. His article had been read by more than 370,000 web users as of Sunday afternoon, and more than 35,000 have joined an online signature collection campaign “to protect Kim I-tae.”
A senior government official said, "At present, any comment on the grand canal by the government sparks further opposition. It seems hard to make predictions on any schedule or plan related to the grand canal project for the time being."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
===
EDITORIAL
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200805/200805260024.html
Is the Government Asking Experts to Sell Their Souls?
Canal Opponents Unconvinced by Change of Plan
Kim I-tae, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Construction Technology, posted an article on the Internet claiming that the government’s plan to first revitalize the four main rivers -- the Han, the Nakdong, the Geum, and the Yeongsan rivers -- in the country is actually part of creeping efforts to build the cross-Korea canal, even as the government is ostensibly backing off from it. “I am being asked almost every day by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs to give the right answers to the arguments of the opponents, but no matter how much I squeeze my brain, I cannot come up with an alternative,” he said. Experts, such as scientists working for state-run agencies, ought to offer proper directions to replace wrong government policies, but the Lee Myung-bak administration appears to be pushing scientists to give up their souls, Kim said.
In a meeting with provincial government officials from Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province on May 21, President Lee said the connection of the Han and Nakdong rivers, the core of the project, may have to be postponed since it seems to worry people. He said he would first pursue renovation and dredge the four major rivers and restore shipping lanes. Some interpret the president’s latest comments as a sign that he has given up on the canal project, but others believe he is trying to tackle the renovation and clean-up projects first so as to push ahead with the mega-project later.
The government has been saying it would pursue the canal project using private capital. If it uses taxpayers’ money to renovate and clean up the four major rivers and then links the Han and Nakdong rivers later using private capital, then it will end up using taxes to do something it had promised not to do with public funds. It will end up being criticized for using illicit means to make an economically unfeasible project look more attractive to private builders.
The canal needs dredged river beds deep enough to allow 2,500-ton container ships to pass through and requires the construction of reservoirs in order to store water in various locations. Routine renovations of rivers do not require the creation of reservoirs, and this type of project will require only small-scale dredging. If this is followed by large-scale dredging later, in order to allow the passage of large container vessels, money will be spent twice. That is no way to pursue state projects.
Last year, KICT got in trouble by issuing a report, along with the Korea Water Resources Corporation and the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, that the grand canal lacked economic feasibility. Kim claims that the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs is now bullying KICT to come up with alternatives to beat the arguments of opponents of the project. If that is true, then the “soulless” public servants working for the ministry are telling scientists at KICT to sell their souls as well. We must get to the bottom of this.
Vietnam Water: May 27, 2008: Fear of desertification on south central coast.
As stated elsewhere I became interested in this subject when I took a job briefly as associate editor of a trade magazine that dealt with water systems in buildings and such. The job did not work out, in part because my co-workers and I saw things very differently. (To put it simply, one problem was they were trying to work on international issues without having an international perspective or even understanding what one was. That plus a work environment full of pointless distractions, such as forced bowling as a "team building exercise" during work hours, but then accepted management approved work sabotage, and it soon became obvious in a couple months why they had trouble keeping people. Still, I managed to learn a lot and get some interesting work done despite the bizarrely inefficient work environment.)
It soon became obbious to me that large portions of the world's mostly densely populated, economically booming areas are not terribly far from a state of ecological collapse. Here's one such report.
Since we are now living in "the age of the flat earth," it is my belief the situation will ultimately affect us all one way or another.
Peter Huston
===
http://www.thanhniennews.com/education/?catid=4&newsid=38812
Vietnam’s south central coast risks becoming deserts
An ox cart carries farmers along a strip of desert in Binh Thuan Province. The south central coast is the region hardest-hit in Vietnam in terms of desertification.
Alarming incidents of soil degradation and desertification are already happening on the south central coast, according to a recent research.
The research, which was carried out by the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, was disclosed at a recent conference on desertification prevention and better water usage policies in Ninh Thuan Province.
According to the study, the hardest-hit localities in terms of desertification are neighboring provinces Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan, both of which are located on the coast not far from Ho Chi Minh City.
The two provinces have the driest climates in the nation and their sand wastelands cover over 131,000 hectares.
In Binh Thuan, the districts of Tuy Phong and Bac Binh have some 35,000 hectares of sand wilderness along a 50-kilometer stretch of coast.
Mobile sand dunes cover some 5,000 hectares.
Due to droughts and strong winds, sandstorms threaten to bury villages and fields of crops, as well as vast sectors of National Highway 1 A.
In addition, mobile sand dunes in Tuy Phong District’s Chi Cong, Lien Huong and Binh Thanh communes are already limiting agricultural output.
In the province of Ninh Thuan, there is a 41,000-hectare wasteland area, accounting for over 12 percent of the province’s total land area, according to a study led by Professor Le Sam from the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research.
According to a survey released last year by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UNESCO, Vietnam has 462,000 hectares of sand along its coasts, with more than 419,000 hectares of this concentrated in the ten central coastal provinces from Quang Binh to Binh Thuan.
Over half of the south central coasts’ three million hectares of land is classified as wasteland.
At a similar conference last year, a study revealed Vietnam had four areas under the threat of desertification – the south central coast, the north western region, the central highlands, and the 489,000-hectare Long Xuyen Quadrangular Area which covers Kien Giang, An Giang Province and Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta.
Annually, desertification takes away some 20 hectares of farmland while erosion, drought and the intrusion of saline and alum water also damage thousands of hectares of agricultural land.
Vietnam has around 9.3 million hectares of wasteland, the study revealed.
Unearthing the cause
Scientists at the conference identified droughts and unreasonable exploitation of natural resources, especially water and forests, as the major causes of desertification in the region.
Droughts and dry weather, which are typical of the south central coast, threaten up to 25 percent of agricultural lands in the region.
During the last ten years, the region has faced severe droughts with the longest spell lasting nine months in 2004-2005.
Many areas in Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa provinces, which covers some 300,000 hectares, have an average annual rainfall of 500-700 mm, the lowest in the nation.
In addition, deforestation is also to blame for desertification due to its effects of increased erosion and soil degradation.
These environmental catastrophes are partially due to residents’ low levels of environmental awareness.
A lack of adequate long-term agricultural and land use planning is also to blame for the soil degradation and desertification.
If plans do exist, they often do not take into account influences on the local environment and ecosystems.
According to a survey by Nguyen Cong Vinh, a scientist from the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, some localities have overexploited fresh water causing saline water to infiltrate their fresh water systems.
The hasty cultivation of seafood is also a contributing factor to sea water penetration in coastal areas.
Professor Ha Luong Thuan, from the Vietnam Academy for Water Resources, said the prevention of droughts and desertification were interlinked but they were currently tackled separately in most provinces.
In 1998, Vietnam became the 134th member of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
Annually, around VND1 trillion (around US$620 million) is allotted for the desertification prevention program with about 200,000 hectares of trees planted as part of the program.
In 2006, the Vietnamese government signed a national action program to prevent desertification by 2010, focusing on fighting deforestation and implementing sustainable management of natural resources.
Source: SGGP, Agencies
It soon became obbious to me that large portions of the world's mostly densely populated, economically booming areas are not terribly far from a state of ecological collapse. Here's one such report.
Since we are now living in "the age of the flat earth," it is my belief the situation will ultimately affect us all one way or another.
Peter Huston
===
http://www.thanhniennews.com/education/?catid=4&newsid=38812
Vietnam’s south central coast risks becoming deserts
An ox cart carries farmers along a strip of desert in Binh Thuan Province. The south central coast is the region hardest-hit in Vietnam in terms of desertification.
Alarming incidents of soil degradation and desertification are already happening on the south central coast, according to a recent research.
The research, which was carried out by the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, was disclosed at a recent conference on desertification prevention and better water usage policies in Ninh Thuan Province.
According to the study, the hardest-hit localities in terms of desertification are neighboring provinces Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan, both of which are located on the coast not far from Ho Chi Minh City.
The two provinces have the driest climates in the nation and their sand wastelands cover over 131,000 hectares.
In Binh Thuan, the districts of Tuy Phong and Bac Binh have some 35,000 hectares of sand wilderness along a 50-kilometer stretch of coast.
Mobile sand dunes cover some 5,000 hectares.
Due to droughts and strong winds, sandstorms threaten to bury villages and fields of crops, as well as vast sectors of National Highway 1 A.
In addition, mobile sand dunes in Tuy Phong District’s Chi Cong, Lien Huong and Binh Thanh communes are already limiting agricultural output.
In the province of Ninh Thuan, there is a 41,000-hectare wasteland area, accounting for over 12 percent of the province’s total land area, according to a study led by Professor Le Sam from the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research.
According to a survey released last year by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UNESCO, Vietnam has 462,000 hectares of sand along its coasts, with more than 419,000 hectares of this concentrated in the ten central coastal provinces from Quang Binh to Binh Thuan.
Over half of the south central coasts’ three million hectares of land is classified as wasteland.
At a similar conference last year, a study revealed Vietnam had four areas under the threat of desertification – the south central coast, the north western region, the central highlands, and the 489,000-hectare Long Xuyen Quadrangular Area which covers Kien Giang, An Giang Province and Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta.
Annually, desertification takes away some 20 hectares of farmland while erosion, drought and the intrusion of saline and alum water also damage thousands of hectares of agricultural land.
Vietnam has around 9.3 million hectares of wasteland, the study revealed.
Unearthing the cause
Scientists at the conference identified droughts and unreasonable exploitation of natural resources, especially water and forests, as the major causes of desertification in the region.
Droughts and dry weather, which are typical of the south central coast, threaten up to 25 percent of agricultural lands in the region.
During the last ten years, the region has faced severe droughts with the longest spell lasting nine months in 2004-2005.
Many areas in Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa provinces, which covers some 300,000 hectares, have an average annual rainfall of 500-700 mm, the lowest in the nation.
In addition, deforestation is also to blame for desertification due to its effects of increased erosion and soil degradation.
These environmental catastrophes are partially due to residents’ low levels of environmental awareness.
A lack of adequate long-term agricultural and land use planning is also to blame for the soil degradation and desertification.
If plans do exist, they often do not take into account influences on the local environment and ecosystems.
According to a survey by Nguyen Cong Vinh, a scientist from the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, some localities have overexploited fresh water causing saline water to infiltrate their fresh water systems.
The hasty cultivation of seafood is also a contributing factor to sea water penetration in coastal areas.
Professor Ha Luong Thuan, from the Vietnam Academy for Water Resources, said the prevention of droughts and desertification were interlinked but they were currently tackled separately in most provinces.
In 1998, Vietnam became the 134th member of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
Annually, around VND1 trillion (around US$620 million) is allotted for the desertification prevention program with about 200,000 hectares of trees planted as part of the program.
In 2006, the Vietnamese government signed a national action program to prevent desertification by 2010, focusing on fighting deforestation and implementing sustainable management of natural resources.
Source: SGGP, Agencies
Vietnam Water: May 27, 2008: Lai Chau clean water project.
Sounds like a beneficial project.
Posted without further comment.
Peter Huston
===
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2008/05/784934/
Clean water project wraps up in Lai Chau
A clean water project in Lai Chau town, northern Lai Chau Province is set to wrap up next week.
The entire VND141.3 billion (US$8.8 million) project, funded by the Norwegian and Vietnamese Governments, will wrap up on May 26 and treated water will be available to the public on June 1. The plan was originally set to be completed at the beginning of 2009 but was kicked off early.
The first phase saw expansion of the previous water storage container from 70cu.m to 1,000cu.m. An additional 3,400m of pipes was also built, as well as a water treatment system worth VND3 billion ($187,500). The system has the capacity to treat 3,000cu.m of water per day.
The treatment system will provide 3,500 customers in the area with clean water.
Posted without further comment.
Peter Huston
===
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2008/05/784934/
Clean water project wraps up in Lai Chau
A clean water project in Lai Chau town, northern Lai Chau Province is set to wrap up next week.
The entire VND141.3 billion (US$8.8 million) project, funded by the Norwegian and Vietnamese Governments, will wrap up on May 26 and treated water will be available to the public on June 1. The plan was originally set to be completed at the beginning of 2009 but was kicked off early.
The first phase saw expansion of the previous water storage container from 70cu.m to 1,000cu.m. An additional 3,400m of pipes was also built, as well as a water treatment system worth VND3 billion ($187,500). The system has the capacity to treat 3,000cu.m of water per day.
The treatment system will provide 3,500 customers in the area with clean water.
China Water: May 27, 2008: Qinghai lake preservation effort.
Note that this is a saltwater lake. Still, with desalination technology, who knows what will be done with it someday? It's also interesting to note that the level of the water in the lake has been steadily declining for several decades now.
Peter Huston
===
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/26/content_8257361.htm
China launches massive program to save Qinghai Lake
www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-26 17:02:38 Print
XINING, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in northwest China have launched a massive program to protect the Qinghai Lake, the country's largest inland body of saltwater, from further environmental degradation.
Qinghai Provincial Governor Song Xiuyan on Monday pledged to restore the beauty of the lake with an investment of 1.57 billion yuan (about 224 million U.S. dollars) over 10 years.
"The program will effectively protect and restore the ecological environment of the Qinghai Lake valley, gradually halt the falling water level in the lake, safeguard the ecological stability in the lake area, and greatly improve conditions for production and living standards in the lake valley."
The program will be carried out in the counties of Gangcha, Haiyan, Tianjun and Gonghe, all in the Qinghai Lake valley.
The tasks includes wetland protection, the harnessing of degraded grassland, grassland rodent and insect pest control and prevention, desertification control, plantation of trees, reverting pasture to grassland and resident relocation for ecological protection, she said.
According to the plan, the government will revert 854,700 hectares of pasture to grassland, protect 276,600 ha of wetland, harness 182,600 ha of degraded grassland and build 34,400 ha of forest in the area.
The government will also relocate 4,157 residents and reduce around 1 million sheep in the area. It will harness six rivers flowing to the Qinghai Lake with a length of 200 kilometers.
The Shinaihai Power Station dam, situated beside the southwestern bank of the lake, will be dismantled.
Situated in the northeast part of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, the lake valley covers 29,600 square kilometers. Qinghai Lake, at more than 3,200 meters above sea level, boasts a water area of 4,232 sq km. Considered sacred by Tibetans, it is home to 189 species of birds and a crucial barrier against the invasion of the desert from the west.
According to the provincial environment protection administration, the lake shrank by more than 380 sq km from 1959 to 2006, and the average water level dropped three meters to the current 18 meters.
More than 111,800 ha of land around the lake is threatened with desertification caused by overgrazing and global warming, according to the provincial forestry department.
China has invested 470 million yuan to recover vegetation around the lake and tackle desertification. It has also banned fishing in the lake since 1982.
Editor: Lin Li
Peter Huston
===
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/26/content_8257361.htm
China launches massive program to save Qinghai Lake
www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-26 17:02:38 Print
XINING, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in northwest China have launched a massive program to protect the Qinghai Lake, the country's largest inland body of saltwater, from further environmental degradation.
Qinghai Provincial Governor Song Xiuyan on Monday pledged to restore the beauty of the lake with an investment of 1.57 billion yuan (about 224 million U.S. dollars) over 10 years.
"The program will effectively protect and restore the ecological environment of the Qinghai Lake valley, gradually halt the falling water level in the lake, safeguard the ecological stability in the lake area, and greatly improve conditions for production and living standards in the lake valley."
The program will be carried out in the counties of Gangcha, Haiyan, Tianjun and Gonghe, all in the Qinghai Lake valley.
The tasks includes wetland protection, the harnessing of degraded grassland, grassland rodent and insect pest control and prevention, desertification control, plantation of trees, reverting pasture to grassland and resident relocation for ecological protection, she said.
According to the plan, the government will revert 854,700 hectares of pasture to grassland, protect 276,600 ha of wetland, harness 182,600 ha of degraded grassland and build 34,400 ha of forest in the area.
The government will also relocate 4,157 residents and reduce around 1 million sheep in the area. It will harness six rivers flowing to the Qinghai Lake with a length of 200 kilometers.
The Shinaihai Power Station dam, situated beside the southwestern bank of the lake, will be dismantled.
Situated in the northeast part of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, the lake valley covers 29,600 square kilometers. Qinghai Lake, at more than 3,200 meters above sea level, boasts a water area of 4,232 sq km. Considered sacred by Tibetans, it is home to 189 species of birds and a crucial barrier against the invasion of the desert from the west.
According to the provincial environment protection administration, the lake shrank by more than 380 sq km from 1959 to 2006, and the average water level dropped three meters to the current 18 meters.
More than 111,800 ha of land around the lake is threatened with desertification caused by overgrazing and global warming, according to the provincial forestry department.
China has invested 470 million yuan to recover vegetation around the lake and tackle desertification. It has also banned fishing in the lake since 1982.
Editor: Lin Li
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)