“Good air quality is crucial to the sustainable development, and is also the biggest livelihood project.” On August 10, the related head officials in Yichang were “summoned to discuss” the prevention and treatment of the whole city’s air pollution. At the symposium, resolution is made that Yichang will focus on key tasks and realize various goals according to the timetable, in order to improve the air quality and ensure to win the “breath defense war”.
On that day, the attendees visited the prevention and treatment equipments of air pollution, and watched the spot monitoring video. After they heard the report of the status quo of the whole city’s air quality and the work of the prevention and treatment of air pollution being done in the previous stage, the officials in Xiling District, Wujiagang District, Xiaoting District and Yidu County-level City have all made commitments to improve the air quality. Then Deputy Secretary of Municipal Committee of the CPC and Mayor Ma Xuming said: we must have a fixed timetable and a route map to address the city’s pollution with unconventional measures; we must strengthen joint coordination, increase joint law enforcement and grid law enforcement, and start pollution treatment in key fields, including dust pollution, oil gas emission and straw burning in the open air; we should be good at adopting scientific means, e.g., using meteorological intervention measures to control haze in time; we should actively respond to heavy polluted weather, increase the accountability strength, expand the accountability range, and fundamentally change the city’s passive situation in air pollution prevention and treatment.
This year Yichang has taken effective measures to manage air pollution and achieved desirable results. The pollution density has dropped, but PM 10 density has not met the standard, which still ranks high. Yichang still has a long way to go in cleaning the air.
According to Targets Liability Agreement made between the provincial government and the municipal government in air pollution prevention and treatment, up to 2017, the density of the whole city’s particulate matter will drop by 15% compared with that of 2012 (the now basic standard has been adjusted to that of 2013). The average annual amount of PM 10 in 2015 should drop by 4.5% compared with that of the year 2013, reaching 104 mcg/m3.
“Yichang Blue” in the first half of the year
In the first half year of 2015, the number of days in good air quality is 97 (181 days in total), accounting for 53.6%. Among the 6 indicators, SO2, NO2, CO, O3 are all in the second level standard (good).
The air quality has taken an obviously favorable turn with an added 40 days in good air quality between January and June when compared with that of the same period in 2014. In July, since the implement of the new standard of air quality, the rate of good air quality reached 100% for the first time. The density of PM in urban area dropped obviously when compared with that of the same period in 2014.
Yichang’s acid rain rate in decline year by year
In addition, the acid rain rate was none in 2015, while in January and July of 2013 it was 96.6%, and was 49.6% in 2014. The zero frequency of acid rain showed that the air quality has been improved obviously in the first half of the year. It also demonstrated the achievements in reducing SO2, nitrous oxide and smoke dust, and in improving air quality by taking emission reduction measures such as eliminating coal burning boilers, using clean energy, desulfurization and denitrification of exhaust gas in the enterprises.
Three problems occurred in pollution prevention and treatment
At the industrial enterprises, the air prevention and treatment has not been strictly implemented. For instance, the large amount of dust has been emitted at random during the manufacturing process; there are no effective measures to reduce dust; transportation vehicles have not been cleaned before leaving factories so that much dust in road would float in the air; fuels used have not met the actual requirements.
As far as the exhaust gas is concerned, the pollution from motor vehicles (ship) has been the important source. The number of motor vehicles has been increasing continuously, which has now reached 156,000 in the urban area. The traffic flow in Fanba Highway has increased to 780,000. The water transportation in the Yangtze River has been growing and the exhaust gas pollution from burning diesel has become worse and worse. The elimination of vehicles that have not met exhaust emission standards is slow.
As the floating dust in work sites, clean construction has not achieved. The detailed management in most architecture work sites is low; the unclean construction and transportation of construction wastes has brought about the large amount of floating dust pollution. With the preliminary analysis and monitoring results of the Yichang city, the particulate matter PM 2.5 mainly comes from engine exhaust, burning coal, industry production and floating dust, with exhaust from motor vehicles being the main contributing factor. (Reporter: Mei Ni)