Feb. 10 – China has released its first national census on pollution detailing sources of industrial, residential and agricultural waste and showing the extent of environmental degradation of the world’s largest polluter.

The census reports that in 2007 pollution discharged into the water amounted to 30.3 million metric tons reports The Wall Street Journal. This included agricultural waste from farms that use fertilizers with harmful chemicals like ammonia. Beijing estimates that its water is only capable of taking seven million tons a year of pollution a year.

Unfortunately, a detailed copy of the census which took two years to complete and was conducted by 570,000 employees is only available to government authorities and will not be released in public.

Since the start of economic reforms, local provincial authorities have been willing to sacrifice the environment in the name of investment. Unless stricter regulations are enforced pollution levels will only get worse as China juggles its rapid economic growth with environmental concerns.

It is expected that authorities will use the comprehensive report as a basis for its  five-year environmental protection plan with proposals to enforce an environmental tax.

“This is an incredibly ambitious source survey of pollutants,” Deborah Seligsohn, principal adviser for the World Resources Institute on China’s climate and energy issues told The Associated Press. “In terms of giving them an excellent basis for being able to manage and track what they’re doing, it’s a huge step forward.”