Around 7,500 kilograms of dead fish have shown up in the lake in Minghu Park in Shenzhen’s Guangming New Zone, Yangcheng Evening News reported yesterday. The fish are thought to have been killed by the large amount of industrial waste and domestic sewage from the surrounding area that gets dumped into the lake.

Images via Nandu Daily h/t Shanghaiist

The dead fish have been accumulating since October 20 and the problem has been exacerbated by a shortage of rain in recent weeks. The dead fish have attracted a lot of vermin and the nauseating stench has driven tourists away.

The fish are mostly tilapia, cod and carp. Authorities are still struggling to dispose of them in an environmentally friendly manner. (Although maintaining the lake in an environmentally friendly manner, i.e. not dumping chemicals into it, might be a start.)

An investigation has revealed that a nearby plastic factory has been dumping waste water into the west part of the lake.

A similar incident occurred in Guangming last year.

The Economist published a report last month on how water pollution was one of the most urgent, and seemingly intractable, environmental issues facing China.

It was revealed in September that an extensive clean-up of Shenzhen’s Maozhou River, scheduled to be finished in 2015, would cost nearly 2 billion RMB. Doubts remain as to whether it will be effective.