Asia/Pacific News
Ports are a 'Major Source of Pollution'
Ships and vehicles at Shenzhen ports have become a major source of pollution and are responsible for 30 percent of sulfur dioxide in the city.
That was the message from Huang Yuanfeng, the chief of the automatic monitoring department of Shenzhen environmental monitoring center.
Talking to the Shenzhen Daily, Huang said, "The main causes of emission at ports are container trucks, waste air produced by ships and dust caused by construction work.”
Huang was also reported as saying the results of the recent monitoring programme showed that concentration of particles at Shekou Port reached 130mgs / cubic meter, which is over 73% more than the national average of 75mgs / cubic meter.
Despite the potentially gloomy news, positives were reported for particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller (PM2.5).
Average readings for PM2.5 for the 45 days from March 8 met the national standard on all days except March 13.
Shenzhen has now started monitoring the finer PM1 particulate matter, which have a diameter smaller than 1 micron.
The South China City has initiated a number of projects to combat pollution, including policy which requires vessels to reduce speed within 24 nautical miles of the shore.
Vessels have also been encouraged to use low sulfur fuels, and this year Shenzhen will work with with Hong Kong and Guangzhou ports and make use of low sulfur fuel when berthing near the shore area a requirement.
Hong-Kong lies 20 nautical miles south of Shenzhen, with Guangzhou lying 60 nautical miles to its North.
