China Vows to Clean Up Polluted Lake 中国宣誓清理受污染湖泊
By JIM YARDLEY
Published: October 27, 2007



BEIJING, Oct. 26 — China will spend more than $14 billion to clean up a famed lake inundated by so much pollution earlier this year that it became a symbol of the country’s lax environmental regulation against polluting industries.

Eastern China’s Jiangsu Province posted a notice Friday on a government Web site announcing plans to spend 108.5 billion yuan, or $14.4 billion, for a clean-up campaign of Lake Tai, the country’s third-largest freshwater lake.

The campaign would focus initially on eradicating the toxic algal bloom that choked the lake this spring and left more than 2 million people without drinking water.

Lake Tai is a legendary setting in China, known as the country’s ancient “land of rice and fish” and famous for its bounty of white shrimp, whitebait and whitefish. But over time, an industrial buildup transformed the region. More than 2,800 chemical factories arose around the lake, and industrial dumping became a severe problem and, eventually, a crisis.

In general terms, the campaign includes stricter emissions standards for industry and tighter water treatment regulations.

Ultimately, though, the success or failure of the program will depend on the sustained commitment of local officials and regulators. In other major clean-up campaigns, including of the Huai River, corruption and the pressure for economic development have undermined environmental protection efforts.