Waste oil
discharged by a dredger hired for environmental research has
polluted over seven hectares of Dianchi Lake, a scenic spot in
southwest China's Yunnan Province, a local official said
Thursday.
Eyewitness
accounts say the dredger intentionally made the discharge on
Tuesday afternoon as it wasn't fitted with the equipment to
properly dispose of waste oil.
Despite
clean up efforts the pollutant spread in the water because of heavy
rain and strong winds. The local administration has taken samples
but results have not been released.
The
dredger was hired to collect mud from the bottom of the lake as
part of an environmental protection research project by the Chinese
Academy of Sciences. Those involved could be fined 100,000 yuan
(US$12,500), according to the local regulations.
Dianchi
Lake
is the
largest freshwater lake on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. China has
invested over 4 billion yuan (US$500 million) to solve
environmental problems in the lake since the 1990s.
(Xinhua News Agency October 13,
2006)
|