Toxic Slick Hits Major Russian River

FROTH AND BUBBLE

China Inspects Riverside Factories After Toxic Spill
Beijing (AFP) Dec 18 - Chinese authorities are inspecting riverside factories in Jilin province, where a toxic spill which has now reached Russia cut off water to several cities last month, state media said Sunday.

Any factories found to be polluting the Songhua, Liaohe, Hunjiang or Nenjiang rivers will have their operations suspended or be shut down, Xinhua news agency said.

Chemical plants, paper and food processing factories and places that store dangerous wastes are among those to be inspected by the end of the year, the report said citing the northeastern province's environmental protection bureau.

A PetroChina chemical plant in the province's Jilin city exploded in mid-November, causing a large amount of toxic benzene and nitrobenzene to spill into the Songhua River.

The spill forced officials to cut off water supply for days to millions people in the major Harbin city and other cities in neighboring Heilongjiang province, which depends on the Songhua River for water.

The poisonous slick entered the Amur River in Russia, which shares a border with Heilongjiang province, on Friday, but experts said it showed no immediate sign of threatening the environment or drinking water supplies.

Many factories in China are located on river banks as they need water in their production process and often discharge industrial wastes into the rivers, causing most of China's rivers to be polluted.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Vladivostok, Russia (AFP) Dec 18, 2005
A poisonous slick that entered Russia's Amur River from China appears to be posing no immediate threat, thanks partly to preventive action by the Chinese side, officials said Sunday.

"Assessment of the pollution is being carried out daily on the basis of factual date, measurement of the speed of the water... and analyses of samples," Russia's emergency situations ministry said in a statement.

"At the moment nitrobenzine has not been detected at any of the sampling points."

The toxic slick released last month after an explosion at a PetroChina chemical factory in China's Jilin province entered the Amur from China's Songhua River on Friday. The Russian city of Khabarovsk, with a population of 600,000, is 250 kilometres (155 miles) downstream.

The Chinese side has managed to reduce the risk by increasing the flow of water through reservoirs on their territory, speeding up the flow in the Songhua to three times the normal rate, the Russian ministry said.

"This has resulted in a reduction of the concentration of nitrobenzine and an increase in the speed of the polluted zone," Sunday's press release read.

China has been embarrassed by the accident and the risk posed to its giant neighbour, and Beijing has stressed its desire to minimise any damage.

President Hu Jintao said earlier this month that China considered itself "highly responsible to the two countries and the two peoples."

Millions of residents of several large Chinese cities saw their water supplies disrupted by the spill.

The main part of the polluted zone is now 163 kilometres from Khabarovsk and is expected to reach the city on December 21, the ministry said. Preparations have been made to ensure fresh drinking water supplies all along the river.

Experts say the problem could become more acute in spring when ice floes that have trapped some of the pollution melt.

earlier related report
Toxic Slick Crosses Border
Khabarovsk, Russia (AFP) Dec 16 - A toxic slick that threatened the water supply of millions of people in China entered Russia's far eastern Amur River on Friday, but officials said the danger was under control - at least for now.

"The water polluted with benzene today reached the Russian border and has flowed into the Amur River," Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu said in the city of Khabarovsk, near the Chinese border.

This southeastern corner of Russia has been bracing for trouble ever since an explosion last month at a PetroChina chemical factory in China's Jilin province led to the spill of 100 tonnes of carcinogens into the Songhua River, which flows into the Amur.

Millions of residents of several large Chinese cities saw their water supplies disrupted.

However, initial tests by Russian experts showed the slick, which contains benzene and nitrobenzene, is not as highly concentrated as had been feared and is continuing to dilute, officials from the emergency situations ministry said.

Chinese media also reported that the slick had significantly diluted ahead of entering the Amur, which forms part of the Russian-Chinese border and is known as the Heilong in China.

Shoigu said the authorities were prepared to ensure safe drinking supplies all along the Amur, including in Khabarovsk, which has a population of 600,000.

"Water reserves and carbon (filters) have been set up. Artesian wells have been reopened," he was quoted as saying in a statement after a meeting of local emergency situations ministry officials.

"Khabarovsk's central water system would only be switched off in extreme circumstances."

The first Russian community affected by the spill, which is flowing at a rate of about 30 kilometres (20 miles) a day, was expected to be the village of Nizhne-Leninskoye on Friday, with Khabarovsk being hit on Wednesday.

The governor of the first affected region, Sergei Muzhetsky, said residents there were safe "because we do not use water from the Amur. The problems will mainly be in Khabarovsk."

However, environmental experts say that while Russia may escape serious danger from the immediate arrival of the spill, there may be greater problems in spring when the ice currently blocking much of the waterway begins to melt.

It is feared that Russia faces an environmental time bomb as poisonous substances trapped in ice are freed up and begin to spread. "Already now we must start preparing for the spring floods and the long-term effects of the accident," Shoigu said.

China has been embarrassed by the accident and the risk posed to its giant neighbour, and Beijing has stressed its desire to minimise any damage.

President Hu Jintao said earlier this month that China considered itself "highly responsible to the two countries and the two peoples."

The country's top environmental agency ordered a nationwide inspection of major factories near rivers to prevent a similar disaster from happening in the future.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported late Friday that workers had begun building a temporary diversion dam on the Fuyuan waterway, which joins the Heilong and Wusuli rivers along the common border near Khabarovsk.

Beijing will foot the bill for the construction and dismantling of the dam, Xinhua reported.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Beijing had sent Moscow additional water testing and purification equipment to help combat pollution, following an earlier shipment sent before the slick crossed into Russia.

"China hopes that these materials, which are being transported to Russia, will help clean up the water," state-run news agency Xinhua quoted him as saying.

"We are ready to increase contacts and consultations with the Russian side and take effective measures to minimize the impact of the pollution," he added.

On Friday, Russian parliament deputy Boris Reznik called on China to offer compensation.

China must "accept responsibility, including financial, for the pollution of the water systems that are used in common by China and Russia," he said.

Source: Agence France-Presse

FROTH AND BUBBLE

Ukraine Rules Out Storing Foreign Nuclear Waste At Chernobyl

Kiev (SPX) Dec 16, 2005
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Thursday that no foreign nuclear waste will be stored at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, the site of the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster.

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