Oil pollutes city’s best river

Beijing water authorities are trying to discover the source of an oil slick which has polluted the Kunyu River in Haidian district.

Local residents said the oil has contaminated the water for several days, despite attempts to disperse it.

Kunyu River is about 10 kilometers long, and connects Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace to several downstream lakes such as the one in Yuyuantan Park in Haidian district. The area alongside the river has been designated as a first-level water protection zone since 1985.

On Sunday, the oil slick was on the west side of the river near Maizhong Bridge. It was around 30 meters long and 5 meters wide.

Li Youlai, the director of the river and lake administration department of Beijing Water Authority, who was inspecting the site Sunday, said that the pollution could be diesel oil. He said the source of the oil was probably two drains designed for rainwater release on the west side of the river.

"We placed a fine-mesh net with buoys alongside the west side of the river Friday to cover the two sewage drain outlets to stop the oil from spreading to the center or the downstream of the river," Li said, noting that they have reported the pollution to municipal environment authorities, but there has been no response so far.

About 50 meters away, across Landianchang Nanlu to the west side of the river, there is a five-meter deep hole with two sewage outlets leading to the river, which is now filled with garbage like plastic bags and bottles. Li said that he suspects the sewage originated either from the illegal garbage dump, or it could be from illegal car washes.

"There are over 900 drain outlets under our management like this on rivers in Beijing for the emission of rain waters or other recycled water," said Li.

A crew of cleaners was attempting to mop up the oil slick Sunday afternoon. One of them, Li Chunyi, said they had been working there for several days, but they had not had much success so far.

"If the source of the pollution is not tackled, then what we have done here is rather hopeless," he said.

A local resident, surnamed Chen, said he often swims in the river despite signs saying swimming is forbidden because of safety concerns.

"Now I have to be prudent when I swim. The pollution here has lasted for days and it's ruined the landscape," he said, adding that the water quality is usually quite good.

"Given that the river here is normally transparent and clean, pollution like this is very rare," Chen said.

Kunyu River has the best water quality in Beijing, the Beijing Evening News reported in August 2011.

Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau could not be reached Sunday.