Society

China succeeds in cleaning polluted border river

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-31 16:37

HARBIN - China has achieved its five-year goal of cleaning up the polluted Songhua River, which flows into the Sino-Russian border river, an environmental official said on Tuesday.

Out of 20 monitoring stations built on the river, 19 have recorded acceptable levels of water quality, according to Hong Yaxiong, president of the Chinese Academy For Environmental Planning. Hong made the remarks on Tuesday while attending a meeting in Harbin, the capital city of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

The 1,900-km-long Songhua River originates in the neighboring province of Jilin and flows into the Heilong River, known in Russia as the Amur River. This river runs along the Sino-Russian border.

In November 2005, about 100 metric tons of industrial waste spilled into the Songhua River after a chemical plant explosion in Jilin. The incident forced cities along the river, including Harbin, to temporarily cut water supplies to 3.8 million people.

The government launched a five-year campaign in 2006 to clean up the river and remove the harmful pollution that resulted from the explosion.

Under the five-year cleanup plan, China spent 13.4 billion yuan ($2 billion) to build 222 pollution control projects, including sewage treatment plants and water recycling facilities, along the river.

As a result of these efforts, the water quality of the Songhua River has been significantly improved and its ecosystem has been restored, Hong said.

Hong, who is in charge of preparing a second five-year plan to continue cleaning up the river, said on Tuesday that the next plan has already been mapped out and is currently under discussion.