英闻天下——379 Groundwater Pollution Arouses Concern

 　　Water contamination has caught increasing attention among the Chinese public.

 

　　Some have gone so far as to challenge local environmental officials to swim in a polluted river.

 

　　Ma Jun has been an active environmentalist for more than 10 years.

 

　　"About half of the surface water being monitored is polluted to some extent. And now some say 90 percent of the groundwater is contaminated as well. I think that refers to the shallow groundwater, which can be easily affected¹ by the surface. The situation in the deep layer is better."

 

　　However, Ma adds that's nothing to be cheerful about.

 

　　"The water contamination in China is now expanding from the surface to the ground. It spreads from small spots to large areas. The latest data from the Ministry² of Environmental Protection shows that by 2011, half of the water wells monitored in 200 cities are scaled as poor or very poor in quality."

 

　　Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei says the government is taking the issue seriously.

 

　　"We've drafted plans for preventing groundwater pollution. We're now working together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land and Resources to crack down on illegal sewage discharges. People will have clean, trustworthy and safe water."

 

　　Many grassroots organizations are also getting actively³ involved in the cause.

 

　　For example, Ma and his Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs have set up a system to map water pollution sources. It can also provide information about the water quality and the sewage discharge situations.

 

　　"In China, nearly 300 million rural people can't have clean potable water every year. One of the main reasons for that is the groundwater pollution. It also affects the soil and causes problems for grain production."

 

　　According to Ma, China has the technical capacity and money to solve the problem but it lacks the most important thing, the impetus⁴. The reasons range from law enforcement difficulties to a lack of social supervision⁵.

 

　　To Ma, the disclosure of environmental information, especially pollution sources, is the key to solve the problem.

 

　　Together with many other environmentalists, Ma is pushing the government to disclose monitoring data online.

 

　　"Just think when we open the environmental information to the public, especially the information about pollution sources, we will put these polluting enterprises under the sun. Under such pressure, the local governments will have to strengthen their law enforcement. And it'll be easier to obtain evidence in environmental lawsuits⁶ as well. In this way we can improve the social supervision."

 

　　The recently issued pollutants⁷ monitoring regulation stipulates⁸ polluters must publish their monitoring data to the public.

 

　　Zhang Quan is the director of Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau. He is also a deputy to the 12th National People's Congress.

 

　　"The information about pollutants will be more open of course. However, it needs some time. When doing so, I think, we should make sure the data is accurate, trustworthy and scientific. Wrong information may arouse panic. I think information disclosure is the key principle and covert⁹ information is only an exception."

 

　　However, information disclosure is not the final goal for environmentalists like Ma.

 

　　"We cannot stop there. I want to know the density¹⁰ of PM 2.5 to see whether I need a mask, but I can't do that forever. I need to know who is responsible for that and then curb¹¹ it."

 

　　For CRI, I'm He Fei.

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

4 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

5 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

6 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

7 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 stipulates   

n.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的名词复数 )；规定，明确要求v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的第三人称单数 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• The trade contract stipulates for the settlement of balances in RMB. 贸易合同规定余额以人民币结算。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The contract stipulates for the use of seasoned timber. 合同上订明用干透的木料。 来自辞典例句

9 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

10 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

11 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。