November 21, 2013

China to relocate pig farms to save river

In order to save the southern Xiangjiang River from pollution, Central China's Hunan Province will dismantle hundreds of pig and poultry farms and has decided to relocate the farms set up within 1,000 metres of the river and its tributaries by 2016.

Earlier this year China's largest city, Shanghai, faced a grim situation after its main water source, the Huangpu River, was flooded with thousands of pig carcasses dumped by farms on its banks.

Hunan's clean-up plan will cover 67 counties and cities, including Changsha, Xiangtan, Zhuzhou and Hengyang. The provincial environment protection department is investigating the number and the scale of the farms, Xinhua news agency reported.

Xiangjiang is a major water source for Hunan and runs 856 kilometres across the province into China's second-largest freshwater lake, Dongting.

Hunan is China's top pig producer with annual production of 80 million. However, booming business has given rise to a major pollution problem, with an estimated 140 million tonnes of excrement released into the river.

Under the new plan, no farm will be allowed to be built within 1,000 meters of the Xiangjiang's banks and the government will provide technological support to the relocated farms to help them meet the official waste emission standard.