China health chief: Songhua River spill a major problem
China’s top health official today said the pollution of the Songhua River by a chemical spill was a big problem which has highlighted the country’s need to have contingency plans for emergencies.
Water supplies in the major north-east city of Harbin were switched off for five days because of the November 13 explosion at a chemical plant that spewed toxins – including cancer-causing benzene – into the river.
The spill remains a “major problem”, Health Minister Gao Qiang said at a press conference.
Gao said China’s State Environmental Protection Administration and other related agencies were continuing to “monitor and clean up the pollution and provide clean water” to those who needed it.
“This matter has alerted us to the need for perfect contingency plans and the effective implementation of those plans when faced with an emergency,” he said.
Concerns also were high in the Russian city of Khabarovsk, where the toxic soup from Harbin was headed after it flowed into the larger Heilong River, called the Amur in Russian. Chinese officials have said the spill was expected to reach Khabarovsk around December 10-12 – or sooner.
The spill has been a political disaster for President Hu Jintao, who has promised greater government accountability in the face of endemic corruption and recurrent public health scares like bird flu. Hu’s government issued embarrassed apologies to China’s public and to Russia.
A top Russian environmental official tried to reassure Khabarovsk residents yesterday by drinking a glass of water on television.
But the World Wide Fund for Nature said the river faced ”ecological catastrophe” from the 50-mile-long slick of chemicals floating toward the Russian border from China.
The only way to get rid of the toxic chemicals is evaporation, but the water temperature would have to be 20C (68F) to start that process, Ilya Mitasov, a Moscow-based spokesman for the group said.
It is currently about 10C (50F) and there is ice on some stretches of the river, which ultimately feeds into the Sea of Okhotsk.
“The benzene will remain in the ice until spring, and the (situation) will be dragged out,” Mitasov said.
Water in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, was restored on Sunday and officials declared the water safe for drinking yesterday.
| Related Stories: |
|
