China Defends Three Gorges Dam from Environmental Critics
11/5/97
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Headline: China Defends Three Gorges Dam from Environmental Critics
Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 11/5/97
Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse
BEIJING, Nov 5 (AFP) - Chinese officials have defended the
massive new Three Gorges dam from criticism that it would cause
environmental damage.
The official Xinhua news agency on Wednesday quoted officials
who insisted the world's biggest hydro-electric development was "an
ecological project."
The blocking of the Yangtze valley is to be ceremonially started
on Saturday and Lu Youmei, president of the China Three Gorges
Project Development Corp. said the government has attached "great
importance" to the ecological problems that could crop up during
construction.
In a meeting with a senior French official who was not
identified, Lu said the project would control flooding, which has
often plagued the area during the wet season, Xinhua reported.
The dam, to be completed on 2009 at a cost of some 200 billion
yuan (23 billion US), will generate 18,200 megawatts of electricity
annually, thereby reducing the need to burn highly polluting coal --
currently the source of 70 percent of China's energy.
Energy produced by the Three Gorges plant will stand in for 50
million tonnes of coal, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 100
million tonnes, Xinhua said. It will also reduce production of dust,
sewage and other waste, it added.
Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by coal use is a
cause of the greenhouse effect blamed for global warming.
While the dam will produce relatively clean power, coal use is
not expected to drop, as overall energy demand in China -- fuelled
by rapid economic growth -- is growing quickly.
The article also said 20 sewage disposal plants will also be
built on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, addressing concerns that
the reservoir would collect untreated sewage and cause a water
pollution problem.
The dam will create a 632 square kilometer (253 square mile)
reservoir.
The government has launched a "diversified biological protection
program" which includes three animal reserves and 12 fish-egg
hatching grounds. Rare fish and other aquatic species as well as
alligators will be properly protected, Xinhua said.
Overseas environmental groups have predicted the dam would wipe
out rare river fish species by destroying fragile ecosystems.
Workers at the site are due to block the Yangtze river's natural
course on Saturday to allow construction of the main dam to begin.
Xinhua also quoted Wang Jiazhu, a hydro-engineering expert and
deputy manager of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development
Corporation as saying the project design had been reliable.
"We are now fully confident with the successful damming of the
Yangtze, more than 60 percent of the excavation work for building
the permanent shiplocks has been completed, and all technical
difficulties concerning the building of cofferdams and the
concrete-pouring are also tackled," he added.
Nevertheless, according to another project official, whom Xinhua
did not name, more knotty technical problems will possibly crop up
as the project enters into the second stage construction following
the damming.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications is to
issue on Saturday a set of stamps featuring the damming of the
Yangtze.