A burst oil pipeline in north China has spewed thousands of liters of diesel into a major tributary of the Yellow River, state media said yesterday.
The spill occurred on Wednesday last week on the Chishui River in Shaanxi Province when a pipeline operated by the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) ruptured, a statement on the Weinan City Government Web site said.
Emergency measures have been taken to stop the leak, with 23 containment belts set up downstream from the spill and up to 700 people scrambling to clean up the mess, the statement said.
Local government officials refused to reveal how much diesel had spilled into the river or comment on the spill when contacted by reporters.
Xinhua news agency reported that up to 150,000 liters had leaked into the river about 70km from the Yellow River, one of China’s longest watercourses.
Oil has already been detected 33km downstream from the spill, the report said.
“We must take thorough measures to handle the spill and the pollution and strictly prevent it from entering the Yellow River, while ensuring the safety of drinking water,” the Chongqing Evening News quoted Vice Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) as saying.
Local environmental departments have warned residents not to use the river water as it may be polluted, the report said.
A preliminary investigation showed that the pipeline rupture was caused by a local construction project, CNPC, one of China’s biggest state-owned oil and gas companies, said in a statement.
The pipeline is used to transport diesel from Gansu Province to the central parts of the nation, it said.
About 30 years of unbridled economic growth have left most of China’s lakes and rivers heavily polluted while the nation’s urban dwellers also face some of the world’s worst air pollution.
More than 200 million Chinese currently do not have access to safe drinking water, government data showed.
In November 2005, a major oil spill on the Songhua River in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province resulted in a cut off of water supplies to up to 4 million people in the provincial capital of Harbin before flowing down river into Russia, causing a diplomatic crisis.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
North Korean troops have started removing propaganda loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, South Korea’s military said on Saturday, days after Seoul’s new administration dismantled ones on its side of the frontier. The two countries had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense on Monday last week said it had begun removing loudspeakers from its side of the border as “a practical measure aimed at helping ease
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS