Cargo ship spills carbolic acid in Yangtze River

by | Feb 11, 2012 | Toxification

By AFP

It is the nation’s second water pollution scare in a month, after factories in the southern region of Guangxi contaminated water supplies for millions with toxic cadmium and other waste in January.

The ship, reportedly South Korean, was docked in Zhenjiang city on the Yangtze river last Thursday when it leaked phenol — an acid used in detergents — into the water because of a faulty valve, local authorities reported.

Residents started complaining their tap water had a strange smell on Friday, and soon rumours that a capsized ship was polluting the river sparked a run on bottled water in at least two cities in Jiangsu province, the Shanghai Daily said.

One photo carried by the official China Daily newspaper showed a supermarket shelf stripped nearly bare as a customer loaded water bottles into a shopping cart.

The water quality had now returned to normal, the government of Zhenjiang, in Jiangsu, said in a statement late Tuesday.

A resident in the city of three million told AFP the run on water appeared to have eased on Wednesday.

“There was panic buying of bottled water for a couple of days. But it stopped after we received a government notice clarifying that the tap water is safe now,” the resident, who declined to be named, told AFP.

Zhenjiang officials would not comment when contacted by AFP on Wednesday. The South Korean Consulate in Shanghai, meanwhile, said it was not aware of the incident.

Phenol — also called carbolic acid — can irritate the eyes and skin, damage the liver and kidneys, and impair the nervous system if absorbed, according to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The incident comes hot on the heels of the more serious environmental scandal in Guangxi, where a 300-kilometre (190-mile) section of the Longjiang River was polluted by toxic cadmium and other waste.

Read more at Physorg: http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-yangtze-river-pollution-panic-china.html

Pipeline rupture contaminates river in Venezuela

by | Feb 11, 2012 | Toxification

By the Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela — Crude oil that spilled from a ruptured pipeline has blackened a river in eastern Venezuela, and the state oil company said workers are containing the spill.

Workers have removed a “good percentage of the crude” from the Guarapiche River in Monagas state, said Ramiro Ramirez, environmental director of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

Ramirez told the state-run Venezuelan News Agency on Friday that workers have been using absorbent barriers to block the crude in the river. He said they have also shut off water intakes along the river, where a drinking water purification plant is located.

State oil company officials said a pipe that transports crude to a processing plant ruptured on Feb. 4. Ramirez didn’t say how much crude has spilled. He said officials were investigating what caused the accident.

Gov. Jose Gregorio Briceno said earlier in the week that the government had declared an emergency in Monagas state after the spill forced officials to halt normal water distribution to parts of the city of Maturin, the Venezuela television station Globovision reported.

Briceno said classes have been canceled at schools in affected areas, and public offices have reduced hours due to the water supply problems.

From the Washington Post: