China Begins to Evaluate Environmental Impact of Songhua River Pollution
Posted on: Wednesday, 14 December 2005, 09:00 CST
China begins to evaluate environmental impact of Songhua River pollution
BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- China has initiated a program to evaluate the ecological impact of the Songhua River water pollution in northeast China and put forward countermeasures, said a senior environmental official said here Tuesday.
The evaluation program is "an urgent and arduous job" that needs the joint efforts of related departments, said Zhu Guangyao, deputy director general of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
Continuous monitoring has shown that the nitrobenzene density in the Songhua River has dropped by a large margin, said Zhu, also deputy head of the investigation team designated by the State Council to deal with the pollution crisis.
Explosions in a chemical plant on Nov. 13 in Jilin Province spilled a large amount of nitrobenzene into the Songhua River, causing a four-day water cutoff in downstream Harbin, capital of neighboring Heilongjiang Province.
The SEPA reported Tuesday that the nitrobenzene density has continued to drop at Jiamusi, some 244 km upstream from the city of Tongjiang, where the river joins the Heilongjiang River and flows into Russia.
The environmental watchdog has organized more than 20 institutions, including the China Research Academy of Environmental Sciences and Qinghua University, to work out a plan to evaluate the ecological impact and develop countermeasures.
Zhu did not mention the details of the plan.
The investigation team, formed on Dec. 6, is looking into the cause of the blast and how the benzene was discharged into the Songhua River without proper treatment.
It will also find out who should be held accountable for the accidents.
The chemical plant is under the Jilin subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation.
Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
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