It is reported that the rampant exploitation of coal resources in northwest China's Qinghai Province is destroying wetlands and posing grave threats to key tributaries that feed into the country's largest saltwater lake.
Companies began strip mining over 4,000 meters above sea level in the Qilian Mountains in 2002, even though none had been issued mining licenses by the government. The excavations mainly are concentrated in the two coal-reserve areas of Muli and Jiangcang in Tianjun and Gangcha counties which produce high quality coking coal.
So far, all the mining companies have been operating without proper licenses and environmental evaluations. In addition, numerous small-scale mines have received the implicit consent of local governments, which rely on taxes and fees from their operations for revenue.
As a glaring example of the devastation on the plateau grasslands, local strip mining has produced a canyon that is one kilometer long and 200 meters to 300 meters wide at Muli with the deepest part more than 100 meters below the surface.
In total, strip mining has taken up 60 kilometers in length and 20 meters in width in the province's mining areas and destroyed wetlands that serve as water heads of the Datong River a main tributary to the Yellow River as well as several other rivers that all flow into Qinghai Lake.
(Sourced from http://www.steelguru.com/news/index/2010/01/27/MTMwMzQ4/Coal_exploitation_threatens_Qinghai_Lake.html)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Coal exploitation threatens Qinghai Lake
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