Giant Algae Bloom At China's Sailing Venue Gives New Meaning To "Green Olympics"

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China's pledge of a "Green Olympics" has taken on a worrying meaning at the sailing-venue city of Qingdao, where an algae bloom has coated the coastline, according to witnesses and Chinese media. A bright green covering of algae was Friday seen smothering beaches and extending out several hundred metres (yards) into the Yellow Sea off the city, about 550 kilometres (340 miles) southeast of Beijing.

Photos posted on the website of the Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening Post showed bags being filled with the spinach-like growth. Algae blooms are common in heavily polluted China, particularly in freshwater lakes. They are mostly caused by the discharge of untreated sewage containing high concentrations of nitrogen, a main ingredient in detergents and fertilisers.

Residents of the city told AFP that Qingdao, which means "Green Island", was prone to summer algae infestations but that this year's was noticeably worse. "Yes the green algae is back as it is every year, but it seems like there is more than last year," an employee at a hotel along the city's waterfront told AFP by telephone.

The man, who declined to give his name, estimated that about 500 volunteers and another 500 police and government workers were trying to clear the algae. Officials in the city with responsibility for water pollution issues did not answer phones on Friday.

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