China Raises Alarm Over Yangtze Environmental Damage

Shannon DeWitt
September 3, 2010

The Yangtze River in China has become heavily polluted for various reasons. This pollution and environmental damage has led to the country having to invest billions of dollars to try and fix the issue and relocate people so the damage does not simply come back. The Three Gorges Dam hydro-electric project is greatly contributing to erosion on the banks of the river, which is preventing the river from naturally flushing out the pollution. In order to build the Dam, approximately 1.4 million people were forced to relocate. Earlier this year another 300 thousand people were forced to relocate as well to protect the residents from landslides due to erosion, and also to prevent the pollution from coming back after clean-up attempts. “The garbage was so thick in places that people could walk across it.”
I found this article to be informative and frustrating. When I think of China these days I tend to think about the economic growth that is occurring there and the huge population inhabiting the country. With so many people, it does make sense that pollution would be an issue for the country, but to read that a river was allowed to get so polluted that you could actually walk across it on the trash is greatly disturbing. The article mentioned the reasons for the additional 300 thousand people being relocated as looking out for their safety and avoiding further pollution to the area, but I do not really agree that this was the best decision. The country is investing 1.5 billion dollars to a forestry campaign in efforts to plant trees on the banks and nearby areas to replace the damaged/lost trees which would combat the erosion issues, which I do agree would be a good investment. I simply do not understand why the people had to relocate to avoid further pollution. If these people do not understand the damages they are causing through polluting the river then they should be educated, and if they do not have the resources to dispose of the wastes properly then the resources should be provided to them. Attending to these two issues would be a better investment than a forceful relocation of 300 thousand people.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iN1YdN5bPbs3YGvedjsBbJKjI5Uw