U.S. Water News Online
BEIJING -- A toxic sludge moving down a river in north China appeared to have slowed after fire trucks pumped out the pollution and workers raced to build dozens of makeshift dams.
The spill of 60 tons of coal tar into the Dasha river in Shanxi province earlier had reached Fuping county in neighboring Hebei province, where 50,000 residents were told not to drink from the river and to take water from nearby reservoirs and standby wells, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Cleanup crews scrambled to build 51 dams to "win time" and absorb the toxic substance before it reached the Wangkuai Reservoir in Baoding, a city of about 10 million people, Xinhua said.
A dozen fire engines pumped out polluted water and trucked it away so it could be treated, Xinhua said, without giving details. Cleanup workers also dug holes in the ground near the river and diverted spill into them, it said.
News photos showed a series of the hastily built dams, some no more than a pile of dirt and rubble shoveled into place by workers. Parts of the river still flowed over some of the barriers but appeared to have slowed. In some spots, there were only small pools of murky water.
Cranes were scooping out squares of cotton batting, sponge, straw and activated carbon, used to absorb the coal tar, a substance linked to increased rates of certain types of cancer after prolonged exposure.
The spill into the Dasha river occurred when a truck overloaded with 60 tons of coal tar crashed and dumped its contents into the water. Measurements showed that levels of phenol, also known as carbolic acid, were 100 times higher than acceptable levels in some spots.
It was the latest in a series of mishaps to degrade the country's already polluted waterways. Officials said there have been at least 76 water pollution accidents in the last six months.
In a separate incident, a series of explosions rocked the Longxin Chemical Plant in the city of Longquan, Zhejiang province, destroying two factories and threatening to contaminate the Oujiang river, which empties into the East China Sea, Xinhua reported.
A spring that feeds the Oujiang lies close to the blast site and authorities trucked in sand and stones to block the spring's uptake of waste water, Xinhua said.
One person was injured and two people were reported missing after the blast, it said.
Return to the U.S. Water News' past archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields