Russia, China agree on joint monitoring of the Amur

Khabarovsk. December 13. INTERFAX-CHINA - Russia and China signed a program to jointly monitor water quality in the Amur River(Songhua River in China) on Monday.

Minister of Natural Resources of Khabarovsk territory Gennady Pocherevin signed the document for Russia and senior official from the State Environmental Protection Administration Xu Qinghua for China.

The head of the environmental protection section of Khabarovsk Natural Resources Ministry Viktor Bardyuk told Interfax that water will be sampled between the village of Nizhnespasskoye, Russia, and the town of Fuyuan, China.

"Pollutants in the Amur between the mouth of the Songhua River and Khabarovsk are distributed unevenly. Therefore in keeping with Russian regulations water will be sampled on the right and left banks and in the middle," he said.

The program also names the places where quality monitoring posts will be located and how water will be sampled.

The Chinese side says that presently the Songhua River contains only benzol and nitrobenzene and that no other toxic substances. However, under the monitoring program Russia reserves the right to study the samples for the presence of other substances.