Chine: amende record pour des entreprises pollueuses

epa03889517 (18/34) Rubbish is seen in the waters of Han Jiang, a tributary of the Yangtze River, in front of the Danjiangkou Dam, part of the central route of the South-to-North Water Transfer project in Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province, China, 03 September 2013. The project has had its share of controversies where pollution and worries of excessive drainage of water from the Yangtze river has created deep environmental concerns. Local officials are still working on environmental protection measures even as they prepare to divert water from the Han river to raise the level of the Danjiangkou reservoir to the proposed 170 meters. An average of 18.2 billion cubic meters of water is expected to be transferred to northern cities annually beginning in 2014. The project was conceived in 1952 to solve the country's chronic water shortages and involved creating three routes, the eastern, central and western routes to channel 44.8 billion cubic metres of water annually from southern China to arid northern areas. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG PLEASE REFER TO ADVISORY NOTICE (epa03889467) FOR FULL FEATURE TEXT