Lowlives Dump 100 Tons of Garbage Near Shanghai Water Source

Just a week before Christmas, Chinese authorities discovered 100 tons of garbage carelessly dumped near a vital Shanghai drinking water reservoir on Shanghai’s Chongming Island, according to Shanghaiist.

Composed of discarded broken bottles, plastic containers, household and hospital waste, the mountains of trash were found dangerously close the Dongfengxisha Reservoir, an artificial water storage facility constructed in 2014.

Officials suspect that the waste products were dumped by two ships upstream in the Yangtze River and flowed downstream before settling near the reservoir. Local police have arrested four suspects who are currently detained for threatening the important water source.

Water from the artificial storage is among the four main sources of drinking water for Shanghai, producing 215,000 – 400,000 cubic meters of water per day. It also provides the supply to over 700,000 Chongming Island residents. Flow from the source has been temporarily stopped while a group of over 40 people commences with the cleanup which is expected to be completed after two weeks.