*********** 100693B.ENV *********** Contributory Categories: BIO, CHM, ENG Country: Japan From: Foreign Broadcast Information Service FBIS-EAS-93-164 26 August 1993 p. 10 KEYWORDS: Japan, Discharge regulation, Estuarine dumping, Nitrogen, Red Tides, Phosphorus ENVIRONMENT AGENCY PLANS RED TIDE MEASURES OW2608101193 Tokyo KYODO in English 0939 GMT 26 Aug 93 [Text] Tokyo, Aug. 26 KYODO-The Environment Agency will create guidelines limiting the amount of effluent from factories and sewage disposal plants in an attempt to halt fish kills in bays and inland seas, agency officials said Thursday [26 August]. The guidelines will control the volume of nitrogen and phosphorus, now being dumped into Tokyo Bay, Seto inland sea in western Japan and 86 other inland seas and bays insulated from ocean waters, the officials said. The two elements in question contribute greatly to "red tides," a condition where tiny phytoplankton multiply quickly on the water's surface. The water will usually appear reddish-brown and the supply of oxygen available for sea creatures is diminished, generally leading to large fish kills in infected areas. In many western countries, the ceiling for nitrogen in effluent is less than 120 milligrams per liter and phosphorus is limited to less than 16 milligrams per liter, the officials said. Japan has no set ceilings. The agency will draft separate comprehensive guidelines for each of the 88 bays and seas in order to improve the quality of the water. The agency guidelines will take effect October 1, the officials said. The guidelines on effluent will apply to about 20,000 factories and sewage disposal plants dumping more than 50 tons of effluent into bays and seas, the officials said. About 2,000 of the facilities must meet the effluent standard by five years after the guidelines take effect. ************** END Msg. B.ENV **************