BEIJING, April 14, 2006 (UPI) -- China has rejected a claim by the U.S. government that air-borne mercury pollution from Chinese power plants and factories is affecting the United States.
An official with the Chinese State Environmental Protection Administration called the allegation "entirely groundless," Xinhua reported Thursday, citing a report in China Business News.
British newspaper Financial Times reported Wednesday that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Stephen Johnson said, "China's airborne chemicals and particulate matter were being detected on both coasts of the U.S."
Zhang Jianyu, program manager for the Beijing office of Environmental Defense, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization, said, "As far as I know, Stephen Johnson has never made this kind of claim publicly.
"It's impossible to distinguish the origin of pollutants in the global atmosphere," Zhang noted.
Professor Daniel Jacob of Harvard University claimed in 2004 that imported pollution could degrade the atmosphere in the United States, Zhang said.
"The claim, however, is only conjecture," Zhang said. "It is not a foregone conclusion yet."
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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