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Nearly 9 tonnes of aniline leaked by a chemical plant in northChina's Shanxi Province have ended up in the Zhuozhang River, local authorities said Sunday.
An initial investigation revealed that a loose drainage valve inthe plant, which is owned by the Tianji Coal Chemical Industry Group, was to blame for the leak.
The leak was discovered on Dec. 31, 2012, when plant employees spotted aniline leaking from abroken pipe while conducting a routine check, a company spokesman said.
Another 30 tonnes of spilled aniline have been contained in a nearby disused reservoir, the localemergency response headquarters said.
A statement from the municipal government of Changzhi said the leak has not resulted in anydeaths, adding that the river's water quality has been improving.
A further investigation into the accident is under way.
Yet the incident has already caused a panic buying of bottled water in local supermarkets ofHandan, a city located on the river's lower reaches.
Contamination alerts were delayed for 5 days due to unknown reasons, an opinion piece publishedon the website of People's Daily said. The delay compromised the citizens' basic right to know thetruth as well as caused panic and health problems.
The contamination has cut off water supplies for Handan since Saturday afternoon. The citygovernment said water supplies will not be immediately resumed.
Aniline is a toxic chemical widely used to manufacture pigments, herbicides and other chemicals.
Other rivers have experienced similar contamination in recent years. The Longjiang River in southChina's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was polluted with industrial waste in January 2011, killing a lot of fish and cutting off water supplies in the city of Liuzhou.
In 2010, the Songhua River in northeast China's Jilin Province was polluted by chemicals that wereswept into the river after floods hit warehouses owned by two chemical companies. |
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发表于 2016-7-11 09:10:27