Original source: China Daily

Pollution has further damaged China’s coastal waters through oxygen depletion caused by excessive growth of algae and waste discharge, according to a report released by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on Friday.

Oil spills, pollutants carried by rivers into the sea, marine environmental disasters and ecological and environmental deterioration also threaten China’s oceans, said the 2010 China Ocean Environment Report.

Although 94 percent of the waters under China’s jurisdiction meet the country’s first standard level for seawater quality, about 48,000 square kilometers of coastal areas still fail to meet the fourth level, the worst standard, said the report, which was based on more than 2.5 million items of data collected in 2010 from 9,800 ocean-monitoring stations.

“Pollutants coming from the land, including industrial wastewater, sewage and chemicals used in agriculture, contribute the most to coastal water pollution,” said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a non-governmental organization.

“We have noticed that many heavy-polluting enterprises in China have moved to coastal areas to avoid residents’ complaints and government punishment,” Ma said.

The contaminated sea areas in China are mainly distributed in coastal waters surrounding large and medium-sized cities, the report said.

The ecological functions of some regional ecosystems have been damaged. But in general, the overall coastal ecosystem is healthy, or in a state of sub-health, according to the report.

Statistics from the SOA also showed that the influence of red tides and green tides, caused mainly by the proliferation of chlorophyta, has been alleviated. But the risks of being affected by oil spills have increased sharply.

For example, an oil spill in Dalian, Liaoning province, on July 16, 2010, that occurred after a pipeline explosion had serious consequences.

“It will take the ocean more than 10 years to eliminate the harm caused by that oil leak,” said Zhao Zhangyuan, former researcher from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.

“People should stop using the ocean as the biggest trash can,” Zhao said.