'Mermaid tears' in threat to HK shore
Source: Agencies |
August 5, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HUNDREDS of millions of potentially toxic plastic pellets from shipping containers knocked off a vessel during Hong Kong's worst typhoon in 13 years washed up on its beaches where they have lain for more than a week, activists say.
The Hong Kong government estimated that 150 tonnes of the pellets may have been washed up, Hong Kong television reported yesterday.
Local media questioned the government's lack of public notice about the spill, almost two weeks after Typhoon Vincente, which was upgraded to Signal 10 - the first time since 1999 that the city's meteorological body invoked its highest measure.
While the pellets are harmless in their original state, they absorb toxins and pollutants over time and could poison the food chain when marine creatures consume them.
Known as "nurdles" or "mermaid tears," the tiny pellets are widely used to make plastic products.
On beaches on the eastern coast of Lamma island, just south of the main Hong Kong island, remnants of three 40-foot containers holding thousands of 25-kilogram bags of the white-colored pellets were found scattered.
"It looked like it snowed in east Lamma," said Gary Stokes, a local representative for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an international marine life conservation non-profit group working with authorities to clean up the plastic.
Stokes said the Hong Kong government had been forthcoming with their assistance.
The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Agency could not be reached for comment.
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec), manufacturers of the pellets, said the pellets were not toxic or hazardous on their own.
"We are organizing people, mostly volunteers, to help clear and collect them," company secretary Huang Wensheng said.
The Hong Kong government estimated that 150 tonnes of the pellets may have been washed up, Hong Kong television reported yesterday.
Local media questioned the government's lack of public notice about the spill, almost two weeks after Typhoon Vincente, which was upgraded to Signal 10 - the first time since 1999 that the city's meteorological body invoked its highest measure.
While the pellets are harmless in their original state, they absorb toxins and pollutants over time and could poison the food chain when marine creatures consume them.
Known as "nurdles" or "mermaid tears," the tiny pellets are widely used to make plastic products.
On beaches on the eastern coast of Lamma island, just south of the main Hong Kong island, remnants of three 40-foot containers holding thousands of 25-kilogram bags of the white-colored pellets were found scattered.
"It looked like it snowed in east Lamma," said Gary Stokes, a local representative for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an international marine life conservation non-profit group working with authorities to clean up the plastic.
Stokes said the Hong Kong government had been forthcoming with their assistance.
The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Agency could not be reached for comment.
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec), manufacturers of the pellets, said the pellets were not toxic or hazardous on their own.
"We are organizing people, mostly volunteers, to help clear and collect them," company secretary Huang Wensheng said.
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