Following a traffic accident on Sunday, two barrels of toxic
chemicals went into a river in northwest China's Gansu?Province and they
have?affected the water supply of 60,000 people, official
sources said on Thursday.
A truck carrying ten barrels of chemicals overturned in the
county of Jiuzhaigou on the southern border with?Sichuan Province early on Sunday morning. As a
result the containers went into the Tangzhu River which joins the
Baishui River and flows northward into Wenxian County of Gansu, the
environmental protection bureau of Wenxian said.
The Sichuan government informed Gansu of the accident in good
time and Wenxian immediately suspended water supplies from the
river.
Eight barrels had been retrieved by Thursday afternoon after a
joint operation by the two neighboring provinces, Wenxian
government said. Searches continue for the two missing barrels.
The barrels contained TDI, a toluene-like chemical often used in
the manufacture of industrial paint, can be harmful to the
respiratory system, eyes and skin.
There have been no reports of casualties as a result of the
accident.
The county, which has a population of 243,000, had partially
resumed its water supply by Thursday noon as monitoring results on
five sections of the Baishui River did not show any sign of
pollution, but the lower reaches of the river are under strict
observation.
Around 60,000 residents living along the river have turned to
mountain springs for the past four days for water. The water supply
to the rest of the area was not affected.
The State Environmental Protection Administration has sent a
team of officials to the county to deal with the accident.
(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2006)