What river in China was recently polluted by a diesel spill?
A pipeline accident just before New Year’s Eve that dumped a massive amount of diesel fuel into two tributaries of China’s Yellow River has exposed how far the country has to go before it can ensure the health of its imperiled waterways. An estimated 40,000 gal. (150,000 L) of diesel fuel spilled from a China National Petroleum Corp. pipeline in northwestern Shaanxi province, some two-thirds of which flowed into the Wei and Chishui rivers. Hundreds of workers have set up a series of temporary barriers in an effort to prevent the fuel from reaching the Yellow river, China’s second longest waterway and a source of drinking water for millions. “It’s very tragic,” says Wen Bo, China co-director for the NGO Pacific Environment. “It’s more evidence that the oil companies are not prepared for such an ecological crisis.” The accident mirrors a 2005 explosion that released 100 tons of toxic benzene into the Songhua river in northeastern China, tainting the water supply for several million resid
Pollution from a broken oil pipeline in northern China has now reached one of the country’s major water sources – the Yellow River, state media say. Hundreds of workers had battled to contain the oil upstream, but officials discovered traces in the river itself. The traces were found about 200km (124 miles) upstream from Zhengzhou. Three counties in neighbouring Shaanxi province have warned people not to take supplies from the river or drink river water. Correspondents say local towns and cities get some of their water from the river, the rest from underground water sources. Floating dams The official Xinhua news agency said: “At present, cities along the river in Henan province have sufficient water resources.” About 150,000 litres of diesel poured into the Wei river in Shaanxi province after a construction accident on Wednesday, state media reported. Map The leak occurred on the fuel pipeline operated by the state-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) that connects Lanzhou
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese were told Monday to stop using water from the Yellow River after an upstream pipeline leaked 100 tons of diesel fuel into a tributary. The leak is the latest environmental disaster to strike China’s waterways, considered the world’s most heavily polluted. The diesel spilled from a broken pipeline on Wednesday into the Wei River which feeds into the Yellow River, a water source for millions of Chinese. Three counties and an industrial zone in western Shanxi province have been ordered to halt their use of river water, according to a notice issued by the local government. The areas have a combined population of about 850,000 people. Sources: http://news.yahoo.
