fw:China's Environment Authority Warns Pollution from Animal-breeding Industry

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http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200202/21/eng20020221_90721.shtml

 

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 21,

2002

 

China's Environment Authority Warns Pollution from

Animal-breeding Industry

 

Booming poultry and livestock farms are emerging as

the new polluters in China because most operators fail

to clean up animal feces, according to the country's

environmental protection authorities.

 

Animal and poultry breeding have become the leading

source of pollution in vast rural areas in China.

 

About 1.9 billion tons of feces were produced by

poultry and livestock farms across the nation in 1999,

2.4 times the amount ofindustrial waste, the State

Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) found

in a recent survey.

 

Water pollution and unpleasant smells which come from

inadequately treated animal waste may worsen because

the animal husbandry business will continue to boom in

order to satisfy the increasing consumption of meat

and poultry, a SEPA official said.

 

Raising livestock and poultry has been encouraged in

many areasin China as a way to help farmers increase

incomes. But pollution prevention is often the

" missing link " due to the ignorance of business

owners, the official said.

 

Local environmental protection departments who pay

little attention to pollution control are also

responsible, he said.

 

It has been found that 90 percent of animal farms

nationwide were built without any thought of their

possible effect on the environment, and 60 percent of

the farms lack pollution-preventionfacilities.

 

About 80 percent of large and medium-sized poultry and

livestock farms are located in densely-populated areas

in east China, and around major cities such as Beijing

and Shanghai.

 

The SEPA plans to increase efforts in this field

through trial projects for pollution control and with

comprehensive utilization of animal waste in some key

areas.

 

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