The lack of drinking water may be the focus in the short term but there are many other issues looming in the background. As dead fish begin to wash ashore from the Songhua River, we must wonder what isn't being addressed, what questions aren't being asked or answered.
It is encouraging to see the questions being posed by China's newspapers: How polluted was the drinking water before it was shut off? How will the Songhua pollution impact local food such as vegetables and livestock?
Our country's environmental situation remains grim.. As the economy has expanded, waste of resources and energy has continued growing, and the pressures on environmental protection are increasingly heavy."says the State Council according to China's Xinhua news agency.
Fifty miles of toxic slick will head downstream (North) from Jilin, the site of the original explosion, to Harpin, a city of nine million people. No doubt it will pass many rural villages that didn't make the BBC map or have officials cutting the water supply even under false pretenses. Benzene is colorless and reports show that you cannot tell the water is polluted by appearance. It will cross from China into Russia and empty into the Amur River which provides drinking water for Russians in the Khabarovsk region.
Russian officials have expressed concern that the benzene polluted river could affect their drinking water. The Natural Resources Minister has said they are taking ever precaution to protect the health of residents but will need China's full disclosure of what pollutants are in the Songhua so ensure they are taking appropriate measures. This has all the makings of a foreign policy nightmare.
China routinely shrouds certain issues in secrecy (ie: AIDS, SARS, Avian Flu, etc..) as they discern how they will handle those challenges within their borders. China must realize that their response, or lack thereof, impacts not only China but the rest of the globe. This is a lesson best taught by example, something both Russia and the U.S. should consider before their criticisms in the days to come.
2 comments:
It becomes more and more obvious that capitalism is reaching its tentacles into countries and communities across the world. Blatantly the expansion of the economy has far-reaching effects that the shiny lackluster of increased capital outshines. I wonder to what entity we wil attribute such a year of disaster. I am saddened and slowly running out of my own money...maybe some of us are being taught the lesson that we are all each other's keeper. Unfortunately, though, those of us who are closer to poor than rich realize this at alarming rates in comparison to our richer cohort. God bless the world, no exceptions.
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