Toxic spill stopped by dam

A TOXIC spill flowing toward China’s southern business capital of Guangzhou has been stopped by a dam as the government rushed to protect water supplies to the city of seven million.

Authorities closed the Baishiyao Dam at the city of Yingde, 60 miles north of Guangzhou, to trap the spill of cadmium flowing down the Bei River, the China Daily newspaper reported.

Local official Wang Zhensheng was quoted as saying: “Water in the lower stream is safe.” He said another dam downstream also was closed and authorities planned to discharge water from a reservoir to dilute the chemical.

The cadmium dumped into the Bei by a smelter is China’s second environmental disaster in six weeks, following a spill of benzene in a northern river that flows into Russia.

Russian authorities have appealed for calm as the toxic spill reached the Russian city of Khabarovsk.

Regional Governor Viktor Ishayev appealed for calm yesterday, reassuring residents that neither municipal drinking water nor the city’s central heating system will be turned off.

In China, the latest spill occurred in one of the country’s most densely populated areas, Guangdong Province, which is home to thousands of factories.

The Baishiyao Dam and the Feialixia Dam downstream will stay closed until the water returns to ”safe levels of toxicity,” but the government hasn’t said when that will be, the China Daily said.

The twin accidents are an embarrassment to President Hu Jintao’s government, which has promised to clean up environmental damage from China’s 25 years of breakneck economic growth.

Cadmium is a bluish-white metal found in lead and zinc ores. Exposure to it can cause lung and prostate cancer, kidney damage and bone disease, according to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.