China confirmed yesterday that an explosion at a petrochemical plant had caused "major pollution" of a river which has led authorities to shut off water supplies in one of its biggest cities for at least four days.
Residents of Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, were jamming the airport and rail stations to get out, a witness said.
The State Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said that the Songhua River had suffered "major water pollution" after the Nov. 13 explosion at the chemical plant upstream.
"After the blast at the chemical plant the monitoring station in Jilin found that benzene went into the river and polluted the water," the EPA said in a statement on its Web site. "Benzene levels were 108 times above national safety levels."
The polluting material index had dropped to 29 times above national safety levels when the contaminants reached the border of Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces on Sunday, the EPA said.
The explosion happened in Jilin Province only a few hundred meters from the Songhua River, which supplies water to Harbin, a metropolitan area of 9 million people. Five people were killed in the blast.
"Pollution is definite," said a regional water official, who declined to give his name. "It has entered the Songhua River and has affected the banks and lower reaches."
The Beijing Times newspaper said the pollutants in the partly frozen river included benzene, an industrial solvent and component of gasoline.
Benzene is a carcinogen that can be lethal if someone is exposed to high levels, even in short doses, according to the US National Library of Medicine's Web site.
The EPA admitted that the chemical slick could be extremely dangerous to people who came into contact with it.
An environmental official quoted by Xinhua said the polluted water was expected to reach the stretch of river where Harbin siphons off its drinking water last night and clear the city by tomorrow afternoon.
Taps were turned off in Harbin at midnight on Tuesday after two days of panic buying of bottled water and food in a city where winter temperatures regularly drop below minus 20?C.
One factory manager said: "Everyone wants to leave Harbin and it is very difficult to buy tickets, just like during the Lunar New Year holiday."
"All containers are being used to store water, including the bathtub. It will be okay for four days, but not longer than that," the manager said.
Fifteen hospitals were on standby to take in contamination victims, Xinhua said.
A notice on the city government Web site saying supplies would resume in four days has been superseded by another saying a resumption date would be announced later.
"The new notice does not necessarily mean an extension," a Harbin government spokesman said.
"But we will make a decision after four days according to the water quality at that time," he said.
Meanwhile, Russian government officials in the east of their country said yesterday they were monitoring the Amur river, of which the Songhua is a tributary, for toxic substances.
The officials said the Songhua (called Sungari in Russia) was the main source of drinking water for Khabarovsk, home to 600,000 residents, just across the Chinese border about 600km from Harbin.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist