http://www.gulfnews.com/world/China/10149605.html
Polluted China rivers put sixth of population at risk
Reuters
Published: August 27, 2007, 23:07
Beijing: Polluters along two of China's main rivers have defied a
decade-old clean-up effort, leaving much of the water unfit to touch, let alone
drink, and a risk to a sixth of the population, state media said yesterday.
Half the check points along the Huai River and its tributaries in central
and eastern China showed pollution of "Grade 5" or worse - the top of the dial
in key toxins, meaning that the water was unfit for human contact and may not
be fit even for irrigation, national legislators were told.
Years of crackdowns and waste treatment investment have reined in some of
the worst damage to the Huai and Liao Rivers, but industrial pollution remained
far too high, Mao Rubai, chairman of the National People's Congress environment
and resources protection committee, said in a report delivered on Sunday.
