Explosive Chemicals Wash into Chinese River

Reports emanating from China have indicated that an important Chinese river now contains large amounts of explosive chemicals as a result of recent flooding in the area.

The Songhua River lies in the North East of the country and flows through two provinces: Jilin and Heilongjiang. According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, the chemicals entered the river from an industrial site in Jilin City on 28 July 2010.

In all, over 1,000 barrels are involved, holding a total weight of explosive liquids exceeding 160,000 kilograms.

Chinese River Spill

The Songhua River experienced a major contamination almost five years ago when benzene got into it. This Chinese river spill ended up extending out into Russia, prompting threats of legal action, while almost four million people went without water for a time.

Regarding the latest incident, Xinhua said that efforts had got underway to try and get the containers ashore. “Emergency workers have been trying to recover the containers and local environmental protection authorities were closely monitoring the water quality of the river”, it reported.

Floods in China have so far killed almost 1,000 people since 1 January 2010, while associated damage costs (875,000 houses destroyed and millions of Chinese residents relocated) have soared into the billions of dollars.

Chinese River Pollution

In related news, it was reported earlier this week that close to 25 per cent of China’s dominant lakes and rivers contained water too polluted for industrial applications, and more than 50 per cent were not safe drinking water sources. The introduction of rigorous controls in recent years has not stopped industrial waste entering these waters, while overzealous farming has also played a part in Chinese river pollution.

On the flipside, though, China’s air quality was said to be slightly better, based on statistics recorded between January and June 2010.

Compared to the same period in 2009, sulphur dioxide emissions had dropped over 30 per cent, nitrogen dioxide levels were five per cent down and overall airborne particulate levels had improved significantly.