After much delay on November 23, China has confirmed that their decision to cut off the water supply to Harbin City on November 21st was not related to water main maintenance but an explosion at a Jilin Petrochemical plant on November 13th. The explosion has polluted the drinking water of 3 million people with Benzene, an industrial solvent and known carcinogen.
A nitration tower in the benzene production facility was blocked and a plant worker 'bungled' his efforts to fix it. Five were confirmed dead, one missing and 70 wounded in the chemical blast.
After the explosion Benzene levels in the Songhua River were 108 times the national safety level and but have since lowered to 29.
1 comment:
industrialization has its own down side.
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