China says spring thawing no threat for toxic-spill hit river

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2006

BEIJING (AFP) — China's top environmental official has said the thawing of ice in the spring will not repollute the Songhua River, the scene of a severe toxic chemical spill last year.

"The final conclusion is that this spring, the Songhua River will not have a second incident of pollution," Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, told reporters at a news conference.

A blast ripped through a PetroChina chemical factory on November 13 in China's northeastern Jilin province, spewing tonnes of toxic benzene into the river.

An 80-kilometer-long (50-mile) slick of benzene consequently surged down the Songhua into the city of Harbin leaving up to four million people without tap water for days.

The spill also caused...