Heavy rain forecast for Monday and Tuesday in Fuping County,
north China's Hebei Province, is threatening to hinder
clean-up efforts in the Dasha River, which was contaminated by 60
tons of coal tar spilt from a truck that overturned last
week.?
Although the water quality has improved, the soup-like density
of the pollutant is twice that of water. The local government has
set up six monitoring stations along a 50-kilometer stretch of the
waterway, and the station furthest down river from the spillage has
not detected pollution.
The authorities are getting more vehicles to assist with the
clean-up operation before the rain arrives. Additional emergency
plans are also being drafted.
Up until last Saturday morning contaminated sludge had been
found in a section of the Dasha River 23.5 km downstream from
Fuping.
A truck carrying 80 tons of coal tar overturned at 5 PM on June
12 and spilt its load into the river in Fanzhi County, Shanxi Province,?which is 80 km from
Fuping.
To prevent the liquid from entering the Wangkuai
Reservoir?in Fuping, the local government has built 53 dams to
intercept the spill and excavated over 500 pools to hold and divert
the contaminated water. By Sunday afternoon 3,650 tons of the
contaminated water had been pumped away.?
(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2006)
