China reports 4 new environmental accidents

BEIJING, Dec. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) Monday reported four recent environmental accidents in a bulletin, shortly after their occurrences.

"Under the direction of SEPA, environmental protection agencies in relevant areas immediately activated emergency response plans and took effective measures to address the accidents," said the bulletin.

Quick reporting of the four accidents contrasts sharply with the delay in reporting the Songhua River pollution, which led to the resignation of SEPA chief Xie Zhenhua.

In the bulletin, the administration called on its local offices to attach importance to environmental safety and conscientiously implement preparedness programs in environmental emergencies to ensure environmental safety for the public.

According to the administration, 500 liters of electroplating solution flowed into the drainage pipe system of Xiaolan Township,Zhongshan of south China's Guangdong Province on Nov. 28, polluting a river in the town.

As the solution contains 12 kilograms of cyanide, the local environmental protection agency blocked the river and poured chemicals into the water to reduce the pollution.

"So far, no humans or animals have been reported poisoned," said the bulletin.

On Dec. 1, an explosion set 6.6 tons of acrylonitrile on fire at Jiangdu Chemical Plant in east China's Jiangsu Province. The local environmental protection agencies immediately organized monitoring of the surrounding environment and blocked the river tocontain the possible spread of the pollutants. It also asked nearby residents to take protection measures.

On December 1, a laboratory of the Tianjiu Chemical Plant in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, reported the leakage of benzene after an explosion of an LNG tank. The local environmental protection staff rushed to the site and swiftly conducted monitoring work, which showed the accident had not polluted the environment outside the plant.

On Dec. 2, a tank truck was caught in a traffic accident in Huai'an of east China's Jiangsu Province and emptied nine tons of formaldehyde into ditches on both sides of the road. Local firefighters and environmental protection staff used detergent solutions to neutralize and dilute the pollutants. Thanks to the measure, the accident did not pollute a nearby river.