Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - About 2 thousand angry rural people blocked the highway bridge that passes near Nangang (Shucheng County, Anhui), in July 24 to protest against a new landfill that the municipality wants to place upstream of a river which provides drinking water. Hundreds of police intervened resulting in violent clashes. In China's booming economy development takes pride of place over respect for the environment and health of the population, who are now in open and violent struggle to defend basic rights like drinking water and clean air.

The Nangang government today assured that it has abandoned the controversial project, which threatened the drinking water of over 50 thousand inhabitants along the river. After the announcement the protests were called off.

Meanwhile, photographs of protests and clashes are circulating the web, of protesters with bitterly ironic placards that state " We would rather fight to the death than be poisoned to death," We would rather fight to the death than be poisoned to death " and "Please do not harm the residents of Nangang”. Other photos show clashes with police armed with truncheons and pepper spray. There are women and elderly who are kneeling, begging the government to abandon the project, at least 2 of them were then hit by the police. Eyewitnesses told the� Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy that the police even beat up small children.

Beijing wants to adopt specific pollution control measures but is afraid to decrease industry: for example, the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute, a public consultation body of, has warned that new environmental protection measures will increase the cost of manufactured metallurgical goods by at least 10%. Having founded the development on the indiscriminate exploitation of the environment and migrants, now Beijing has difficulty reconciling the inevitable environmental needs with the continuation of rapid economic growth.

But experts caution that environmental damage in the country is growing in quantity and severity. In the 1st half of 2010, environmental incidents increased by 98.1% compared to 2009 and there were some real disasters.

In July alone,� Zijin Mining Group Co., a leading gold and copper mining company, poured over 9100 cubic meters of harmful waste into the river Ting, killing more than 2,300 tonnes of fish and destroying the fishing industry in the area. On July 16, the explosion of two pipes and a tank of oil at sea in the a major oil port in Dalian, caused the loss of 1,500 tonnes of crude oil. The port was closed for several days.

Ma Jun, founder of the� Institute of Public Environmental Affairs, told� Bloomberg that " if China doesn’t address the environmental issues when the economy is growing fast, it might become a destabilizing factor in the society". "The Chinese public is increasingly aware and vocal about the heavy metal pollution brought on by refineries and smelters.".

Anche il ministro per l’Ambiente riconosce che “c’è conflitto tra un rapido sviluppo economico e la capacità dell’ambiente di assorbire” gli effetti. Una sua indagine ha accertato che nel 2009 sono finiti nella acque 58,9 miliardi di tonnellate di rifiuti liquidi, contenenti petrolio, azoto e manganese, circa il 3% in più del 2008.

Even the Minister for the Environment recognizes that " Fast economic development is leading to increasing conflicts with the capacity of the environment to absorb " the effects. Its inquiry found that in 2009 58.9 billion tons of liquid wastes containing oil, nitrogen and manganese was dumped in the water system, about 3% more than in 2008.

There is also controversy at the absence of contingency plans in case of environmental disasters. In Dalian, about 8 thousand public employees and 37 thousand volunteers, especially local fishermen scooped up the crude oil without protection, without masks against the noxious fumes and no gloves to protect from benzene that penetrates the skin and is harmful to the digestive system. They collected the oil with pieces of cloth, recovered with sticks and squeezed it into buckets with their bare hands.

Zhong Yu, coordinator of� Greenpeace China, praised the army of volunteers who cleaned the sea of oil;" They have been working tirelessly for more than a week without receiving any apology or compensation from the oil companies. They were not given, or even advised to wear, carbonic masks from the government, which are cheap and available anywhere”. "It's just pathetic."

IEA calculations based on preliminary data show that China has now overtaken the United States to become the world's largest energy user. China's rise to the top ranking was faster than expected as it was much less affected by the global financial crisis than the United States.

For those who have been following energy consumption trends closely, this does not come as a surprise. What is more important is the phenomenal growth in demand that has taken place in China over the last decade; also prospects for future growth still remain incredibly strong. Since 2000, China’s energy demand has doubled, yet on a per capita basis it is still only around one-third of the OECD average. Prospects for further growth are very strong considering the country’s low per-capita consumption level and the fact that China is the most populous nation on the planet, with more than 1.3 billion people.

China’s demand today would be even higher still if the government had not made such progress in reducing the energy intensity (the energy input per dollar of output) of its economy. It has also very quickly become one of the world’s leaders in renewable energy, particularly wind power and solar energy, and paved the way for a big expansion of nuclear power.

The worldwide implications of these new trends will be assessed in the upcoming World Energy Outlook 2010 to be released on 9 November 2010.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEhhVmxYSNI

I am reporting here the article extracted from the BP website.

The primary objective of the top kill process is to put heavy kill mud into the well so that it reduces the pressure and then the flow from the well. Once the kill mud is in the well and it’s shut down, then we follow up with cement to plug the leak.

For the top kill procedure we are designing equipment to pump the highest kill rate we can, irrespective of the flow rate of oil from the well, to force a downward flow of mud into the well. This, combined with the heavy drilling fluid is designed to eventually stop the flow. This has never been attempted at these depths. This is very complex – and involves several complex procedures coming together.
Detailed description of the procedure
We have the Q4000 vessel at the surface which has a crane for lifting heavy equipment and is a central part of the surface equipment for this procedure. We also have a number of other vessels: the HOS Centerline, with Halliburton pumping equipment; the HOS Strongline; and the BJ Services Blue Dolphin and Halliburton Stim Star IV pumping boats.

A total of 50,000 barrels of mud will be on location to kill the well – far more than necessary, but we want to be prepared for anything. Pumping capacity on location is more than 30,000 hydraulic horsepower.

The mud will be pumped down the 6-5/8 inch drill pipe (pipe is connected to the Q4000), then through 3-inch hoses, which go through the manifold on the seafloor. Then the mud moves through another set of 3-inch hoses attached to the Deepwater Horizon BOP choke and kill lines.

With the manifold, we can also pump the ‘junk shot’ if necessary to stop too much of the kill mud going out through the top of the BOP rather than going down into the well to stop the flow. By switching valves in the subsea manifold, we can inject the ‘bridging material’ (the junk), which will prevent such losses and enable the top kill to continue.

We’ve been testing the junk shot on-shore, looking at different configurations of what might restrict the flow out of the Deepwater Horizon riser and what types of materials would help shut it off. Materials in a junk shot can include well-known items such as pieces of tires, golf balls, and pieces of rope.

Most of the equipment is on site and preparations continue for this operation.

News sources have just reported that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is spreading out of control and now threatens to eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident, which leaked 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound.

The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which started when an offshore oil rig exploded, caught fire and sank, has reached the ecologically fragile Louisiana coastline and the mouth of the Mississippi River. The spreading oil is threatening marshlands along the Louisiana coast and 10 wildlife management areas in Louisiana and Mississippi as well as oyster, shrimp and other seafood fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.

Government officials said late Wednesday that oil from the underground well could be leaking five times faster than previously estimated--at a rate of 5,000 barrels a day instead of 1,000. Emergency crews tried to corral the oil spill with skimmers and containment booms, and started a controlled fire to burn as much oil as possible off the surface of the water. Weather prevented additional burns on Thursday, but more burns are likely to be conducted when weather conditions improve.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday morning pronounced the incident a "spill of national significance," a designation that frees more federal resources to help with the cleanup. Later in the day, President Barack Obama dispatched Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to help with the spill and promised that the White House would use "every single available resource" to respond to what is almost certain to become the nation's worst oil spill and one of the most damaging environmental disasters in U.S. history.

"It is of grave concern," David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told The Associated Press. "I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling."

Experts believe it could take up to three months to drill a relief well and plug the gushing oil well that lies 5,000 feet underwater. That well taps into one of the largest U.S. oil reserves and could continue pumping out 5,000 barrels (about 200,000 gallons) of oil per day until the repairs are done.

The oil spill also could have far-reaching effects on America's future energy policies, according to White House officials and other observers. President Obama's proposal to expand offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling along the Atlantic coast, the Gulf of Mexico and northern Alaska is about to enter a public comment period. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that public reaction to the oil spill might force modifications to the plan. Meanwhile, the comprehensive Senate Climate Bill, which also calls for expanded offshore drilling, may have an even tougher time garnering the votes needed for passage.

"This will become part of the debate" over offshore oil drilling, said Carol Browner, Obama's top energy and climate advisor. "That goes without saying."

The International Whaling Commission has just unveiled a proposal to� legalize commercial whale hunting for the first time in 24 years.

Now,� countries are deciding whether to support it -- or push back. Already, New Zealand's Foreign Minister has described some provisions as "unacceptable," "inflammatory," and "offensive."

A massive global outcry is needed� now, as other key countries choose how to react. Avaaz will deliver this petition to the Commission delegates each time it adds another 100,000 signatures --� click here and spread the word!

If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live.

Albert Einstein

Shellfish feed themslef with dirty water, a oyster can filter 30 gallons of water per day and i am sure they will never suffer from any hunger near the chinese coasts.  I am  reporting here a fresh news from Agence France-Presse about the status of the sea around china.

China's coastal waters are increasingly polluted by everything from oil to pesticides, contaminating the nation's marine life including the shellfish supply, state press reported Friday.

Most shellfish in offshore areas contained "excessive harmful chemicals" such as lead, cadmium and the insecticide DDT, the China Daily said, citing a new report released by the State Oceanic Administration.

Levels of lead detected in shellfish were 50 percent higher than normal, while cadmium and DDT levels were about 40 percent higher, the report said.
Lead can damage the human nervous system and cause blood and brain disorders if consumed in unsafe amounts, while DDT is listed as a "moderately hazardous" pesticide by the World Health Organization.
The administration's report said that about 147,000 square kilometres (59,000 square miles) of China's coastal waters failed to meet standards for "clear water" last year, an increase of 7.3 percent over 2008.

China's coastal waters last year suffered 68 red tides, or algae blooms, caused by excessive sewage in the water that affected 14,100 square kilometres, 3.4 times the area affected by such blooms in the 1990s, the report said.
China's fast-paced economic growth was resulting in more industrial and domestic garbage being dumped into the sea, it added.
Following 30 years of explosive growth, China's is on track to overtake Japan as the world's second-largest economy, but that success has made it one of the most polluted nations in the world.

"Our environmental quality is only improving in certain areas, but overall the environment is still deteriorating," Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Zhang Lijun told journalists this week.

BEIJING (AFP)

The deaths of the tigers occurred in the past three months at the zoo in China's frigid northeast, officials and state media said Friday. Reports said the tigers starved to death, having been fed nothing but chicken bones, while a zoo manager said unspecified diseases killed the animals.
Either way, the animals had been ill-kept and ill-fed. The Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo has struggled financially, even withholding pay from staff, said a woman in charge of corporate planning for the zoo who would only give her surname, Wang. The zoo had been up for auction for some time without any bidders, she said.
"You can do the math: one tiger eats 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of beef per day and there are at least 30 of them now, and there are lions, elephants and other animals too," Wang said. "The zoo has been taking money from the staffers' salaries to feed the animals."

The food bill for the tigers ran to about $1,320 (9,000 yuan) a day — nearly half the food allowance the zoo gets from the local government to care for all the animals, Wang said.
The deaths underscore conflicting signals in China's attempts to save its dwindling number of tigers. While extensive conservation efforts are under way, animal protection groups say zoos and wildlife parks may be deliberately breeding more animals than they can afford, hoping to sell off the carcasses onto a black market where tiger parts fetch a high price for use in traditional medicines and liquor.
"We've seen cases where tiger farms have steeped the bones from their deceased tigers in liquor to sell to visitors," said Hua Ning, project director for the China branch of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Other animal rights groups like the Washington, D.C.-based National Fish and Wildlife Foundation have documented stockpiled pelts and the sale of tiger wine at the Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Mountain village in south China's Guangxi region.

Hua said she didn't have any specific information about illicit sales of tiger parts by the Shenyang zoo but she and other activists said Chinese tiger farms in particular were breeding too aggressively.
"Some of these farms are raising the tigers precisely because they hope that there will be some relaxation of the ban on tiger parts and they can sell the parts and derivatives," Hua said.
Tiger parts are still available on the black market as well, probably sourced from farms or zoos since there are so few wild tigers left in China, she said.

Siberian tigers are one of the world's rarest species, with an estimated 300 left in the wild, 50 in China. But more than 5,000 are held captive on farms and wildlife parks across China.
Xie Yan, China director for the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, said she expects the overbreeding of captive tigers in China to come up at a meeting of signatories to CITES — the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species — that begins Saturday in Doha, Qatar.
Xie's group wants China to make animal sanctuaries use birth control to "reduce the number of tigers in captivity to make sure they are well-treated."
The goal should be to boost China's wild Siberian tiger population and restore habitats that have been destroyed by industrialization, she said.
The Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo, where the latest deaths occurred, is a long-troubled tourist spot also known as the Glacier Animal Zoo. In November 2007, three tigers killed a fourth during a fight over food. At the end of last year, two hungry tigers there were shot and killed by police after they mauled a zookeeper.

In the latest deaths, the state-run China Daily newspaper quoted Liu Xiaoqiang of the Shenyang Wild Animal Protection Station as saying that the tigers had been kept in cold, cramped metal cages and were fed nothing but chicken bones.
Zoo spokesman Wu Xi said, however, that the animals died from "various diseases" that were hard for them to endure because of this year's unusually harsh winter. He said the tigers were kept in cages indoors because of the bitter cold.
Wu wouldn't specify what diseases the animals had. He said 30 tigers now remain at the zoo but some remain at risk of illness.

"Some of the physically strong ones might survive the current difficulty, including the cold weather and the diseases," Wu said.
Wang, the zoo executive, said the bodies of the 11 tigers have been put into a storage freezer but denied plans to sell them. "China has regulations on tiger skins and bones, which are barred from going into the market," she said.
China banned the sale of tiger parts and the use of tiger parts in Chinese medicine in 1993, imposing stiff sentences on offenders, but tiger bone, penis, pelts and other parts are still sold illegally to consumers — some who believe the products increase potency or can cure ailments from convulsions to skin disease.

China's laws against poaching are tough — killing an endangered tiger can be punishable by death — but the legislation doesn't address irresponsible zoo keepers who abuse or neglect captive tigers.
"Because there is no legal standard, facilities like these apply their own," said Hua, of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "Some take good care of the animals but there are also a lot of abuse cases."
___
Associated Press researcher Zhao Liang contributed to this report.