Town shuts down water as toxic slick arrives

ANOTHER town on a poisoned Chinese river shut down its water system yesterday as a toxic slick caused by a chemical plant explosion arrived and the country’s health minister warned that the spill was still a major problem.

Running water to about 26,000 people in Dalianhe, on the Songhua River in China’s north-east, was cut off yesterday.

The slick arrived a day after Harbin, a major city upstream, declared its tap water safe to drink again. Its 3.8 million people had endured five days without running water as the slick of benzene and other toxic chemicals passed.

Schools in Harbin re-opened yesterday and businesses that closed due to lack of water, such as bathhouses, reported a surge in customers.

But Health Minister Gao Qiang warned against complacency, saying the spill was still a “major problem”.

“This matter has alerted us to the need for perfect contingency plans and the effective implementation of those plans when faced with an emergency,” he said.

The toxins were spewed into the river by a November 13 blast at a chemical plant in Jilin, a city further upriver from Harbin. The 80-kilometre-long slick is expected to reach the major Russian city of Khabarovsk within two weeks.