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BEIJING-- About 28,000 people in north China were living off water from fire engines after supplies were cut when a truck spilled 33 tons of toxic oil into a river, officials and residents said.
The overloaded truck was carrying wash oil, also called creosote, when it overturned and dumped its contents into a river in Shanxi province, said an official from the city of Jinzhong. He would give only his surname, Li.
The polluted water flowed into the Yangjiapo reservoir, contaminating 2 million cubic meters of water, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the provincial environmental bureau.
The Oct. 26 spill was the latest in a series of accidents to hit China's already polluted waterways. It wasn't clear why the incident was not reported earlier, but officials often hold off on releasing negative information, fearing a backlash from superiors or residents.
Investigations showed the truck's brakes failed, Xinhua said.
It said supplies have been cut to Dazhai and Sandu towns in Xiyang county, which the reservoir serves.
Zhang Aijun, an official at the reservoir, said he was "very busy doing anti-pollution work," and hung up.
Environmental bureau telephones rang unanswered, and a man at the local water bureau said he was "unclear" about the situation.
Li said the city was dispatching fire trucks and distributing bottled water to keep residents supplied.
A resident who would give only her family name, Zhao, said the river had a yellow tinge and was "very smelly."
Zhao said that she and her husband get water from a well, but that neighbors were relying on the trucks and bottled water.
"There's enough water for drinking, but it's impossible for them to take a bath," she said by telephone. "No one dares to wash their clothes in the river, either."
Crews were using pumps, tons of activated carbon and other materials to absorb the spilled oil, Xinhua said.
It said local authorities were also trying to connect water pipes to a large well in nearby Mahui village.
Creosote is commonly used to treat wood and is suspected of causing cancer in humans, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Most of China's canals, rivers and lakes are severely tainted by agricultural and household pollution. Chinese leaders say the country faces a critical water shortage, partly due to chronic pollution and chemical accidents.
In August, China said it would spend $125 billion to improve water treatment and recycling by 2010 to fight the mounting threat of urban water pollution.
Last November, a chemical plant blast spilled tons of benzene and other toxic material into the Songhua river, halting water supplies to millions in China and neighboring Russia. Local authorities were accused of reacting too slowly and delaying public disclosure of the spill.
Xinhua reported that $1.1 billion would be invested over the next five years to control pollution in the Songhua. It said the money will go to build urban sewage treatment and garbage disposal facilities, and to clean up industrial pollution.
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