Qingdao Olympic sailing venue cleared of algae

All of the green algae at the Qingdao Olympic sailing venue in Shandong Province has been successfully cleared, Beijing Olympic officials reported yesterday.

"The sailing event, which will be held in more than 20 days, will not be threatened by the algae," Xinhua quotes Wang Wei, vice president of the sailing committee (Qingdao) of BOCOG, as saying.

But in other areas, the thick layer green, non-toxic algae is still polluting the beaches, the BBC reports.

Some 10,000 troops from the People's Liberation Army and other workers labored to clear more than 1 million tonnes of algae from the sailing area by Tuesday's deadline. Some of the harvest might be processed into fertilizer, Xinhua says.

Two floating boom barriers and netting are now in place around the competition area covering 50 square kilometers to help stop more of the algae coming ashore, the BBC says.

China says the excessive algae growth is a natural, though rare, phenomenon. Environmentalists, however, blame pollution, according to the BBC.

Starting in mid-June, a bright green covering of algae littered the beaches and extended out several hundred meters from the beach. At the peak of the outbreak, it covered 32 percent of the sailing venue, Xinhua says.

Hein Verbruggen, International Olympics Committee coordination commission chairman, told Xinhua that the algae outbreak is "an unavoidable natural disaster."

Ships will be patrolling in the area to monitor the algae situation, Jiang Daming, governor of Shandong Province says.

More than 400 athletes from nearly 60 countries and regions will compete for 11 gold medals in the sailing events taking place from August 8 to 23.

Meanwhile, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping stressed on Tuesday that all Olympic venues outside Beijing should also give priority to safety. He also called on the public to mind their manners while watching the Games.

"The cities of Qinhuangdao, Tianjin, Shanghai and Shenyang, as the collaborative host cities for the Beijing Olympic football games, should stick to safety in all preparation work to satisfy international communities and athletes across the world," Xinhua quotes Xi as saying.