Excess waste discharge and land reclamation are worsening pollution in China's shallow coastal waters, the China Daily said. Four-fifths of waste discharge stations overseen by the State Oceanic Administration, dumped more than their permitted amount, spewing 12.9 million tonnes of waste into the seas last year, the paper said. About 149,000 square kilometers of sea failed to meet acceptable standards, an increase of 10,000 square kilometers compared with 2005. Worst-hit were the Bohai Sea, bordering the industrial Northeast, and the estuary of the Yangtze River, China's largest waterway.