Burning Down the House - Part II

stone tablets to temple remnants and fossils, and use them for scientific research and international cultural exchanges," a Probe International press release dated December 8, 2000, states.

This colossus of China -- the Three Gorges Dam -- will tower 610 feet high and stretch approximately 1.3 miles wide when completed in 2009. Like the Titanic, at this point some people I think have started to believe this dam is unbreakable. The "Great Wall Across the Yangtze" web site reports: "When finished, the dam will contain twice the amount of concrete of the Itaipu project in Brazil, currently the world's largest dam. The Three Gorges project has been engineered to store over 5 trillion gallons of water and to withstand an earthquake of 7.0 on the Richter scale."

But there are other considerations. Think for a moment about 5 trillion gallons of water. Now picture 265 gallons of raw sewage. That is just an estimate of what is being emptied into the Yangtze on an annual basis. The Chinese say this dam will provide "fresh" water for millions of people. Can this polluted substance really be called "fresh water?"

And raw sewage is not the only pollutant that will factor in once the dam is complete. Over 1500 factories will be submerged once the floodwaters rise permanently. Houses, wildlife, mines, cities. It will all be submerged. How many people will have left behind a gas can or two? How many factories didn't completely eliminate solvents and chemicals used in their manufacturing processes. The submerged wildlife -- plants, animals, trees -- will decay right there in the reservoir itself.

By the way, how do you think the Chinese cut such a swath through the mighty Himalayas? Well, with nuclear blasts of course.

This area is being set up for what experts are calling an ecological disaster. There is the potential for landslides and earthquakes based on the additional stress being placed on the land. Climatologists predict there could even be a climate change. Right now the Yangtze delivers fresh water to the Yellow Sea, which ultimately affects the Sea of Japan. Once the Three Gorges Dam limits this flow at Sandouping, the salinity in the Sea of Japan could ultimately be affected.

In addition, nutrients important to the survival of many Yangtze River species -- like nitrogen and phosphorus -- will be drastically reduced by the operation of the dam. The Yangtze River dolphin, of which there are only

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