Three Gorges, the world’s largest dam, built over the last decade by China across the Yangtze River, is "a potential catastrophe," Chinese officials now admit.
According to [state news agency] Xinhua, the rising volume of water in the reservoir
behind the dam has eroded river banks along 91 stretches of the
Yangtze, triggering landslides. The sudden collapses of tranches of
soil into the water has created waves that have been up to 50 metres
(164ft) high, the agency said. "Regular geological disasters are a
severe threat to the lives of residents around the dam," Huang Xuebin,
an engineer, told a meeting of officials.
Waves a hundred and sixty feet high! Jeez. And that’s not to mention pollution and algae choking streams behind the dam, despite government expenditures of close to a billion dollars a year on clean-up efforts.
"We cannot lower our guard against
ecological and environmental problems caused by the Three Gorges
project," Wang Xiaofeng, director in charge of building the dam, was
quoted as saying. "We can not win by achieving economic prosperity at
the cost of the environment."
Um, right. Where have I heard that before? Oh well, whatever, nevermind…
Kit Stolz 