Tap water in Harbin declared safe, but residents wary

A massive chemical spill was headed downriver from China to Russia’s Far East today, as officials sought to reassure residents of a Chinese city that their water was safe to drink after being shut off for five days as the pollutants flowed past.

Experts, meanwhile, warned that the spill’s effects could last for years because of pollutants embedded in river ice and mud at the bottom of the Songhua River.