Wrecking crews had to demolish about 2.5 million square metres of floor space to prepare the old Kai county for the flooding. Like the other cities and towns before it, old Kai county had to be completely demolished in order to minimise the pollution from centuries of accumulated waste and human activity. Questions have been raised about the thoroughness of the cleanup, and whether long buried human and industrial waste would resurface to pose a health threat in future. But so far, none of the flooded cities behind the Three Gorges Dam have reported such problems [Nov 09 2008].
