An aerial view shows damaged buildings after an explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng in China's eastern Jiangsu province early on March 22, 2019. [4] The explosions are not thought to be related to terrorism, and the company told a press conference that they had occurred as a result of a chemical blockage that had gone unfixed. The channel of one nitration tower of the benzene production branch got blocked at noon. more of our content on biodiversity. Simply find the accounts you find compelling and follow the conversations. On November 15, water supply from Songhua River was suspended while other water supplies were suspended on November 18. On November 13, 2005, an explosion at a petrochemical plant in China's northeastern Jilin Province resulted in the release of 100 tons of toxins into the Songhua River. Please read our republishing guidelines to get started. 2005 – Nov: Supply of water to Harbin, one of northern China’s biggest cities, was cut off for almost a week after explosions at a chemical plant in Jilin polluted the Songhua river with around 100 tonnes of pollutants containing highly-poisonous benzene and nitrobenzene. Also on November 23, Harbin residents began to receive water from fire trucks, and began voluntary evacuation. Chemical And Biological Warfare: Major Threat In The 21st Century? Flaws were revealed in the enforcement of local environmental laws, poor communication between state agencies and government officials, and poor emergency response.

Subsequent investigation by the authorities revealed that gas from a storage facility inside the factory complex had leaked on to the road where the vehicles were parked, and a fire led to the chain conflagration.

The vice governor of Jilin Province, Jiao Zhengzhong, also apologized to the people of Harbin, according to a report Thursday in the newspaper Beijing News [2]. It is also dependent on the Songhua River for its water supply. The threat applied only to the initial explosion and not the extended cover up of the benzene slick. In the afternoon of the same day, schools in Harbin were closed for one week.

(STR/AFP/Getty Images)

In the intervening period, public rumor regarding an undefined public emergency proliferated. After exiting the Amur River, the contaminants entered the Strait of Tartary and then the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan, which have Japan, Korea and Far-East Russia on its littorals. Was environmental justice served? Pollution The blasts caused the nearby The city also ordered all bathhouses and carwashes to close. This website uses cookies that collect information about your computer. On November 13, a water plant in Jilin city, Jilin, was closed. This website uses the following additional cookies: Google Inc. - Google operates Google Ads, Display & Video 360, and Google Ad Manager. About 70 people where injured, 21 of these people where sent to the hospital in a serious condition. [39] As measures intended to control the spread and release of information failed, the government proved remarkably deft in responding to public criticism. Some of the most recent incidents include an explosion at carbon products manufacturer in Shandong on 12 November, which killed six and injured five people, and a blast at a fertilizer factory in Hebei that left six dead and seven injured on 7 November. Please see CLB's privacy policy to understand exactly what data is collected from The slick passed through the city of Jiamusi, which, however, relies more heavily on underground water supply, and thus did not cut off water supplies.

At the same time, the tail of the slick left Zhaoyuan, Daqing, Heilongjiang.

Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, is one of China's biggest cities with nearly ten million urban residents.

Read Cloudflare's privacy policy and terms of service. Cloudflare - Cloudflare is a service used for the purposes of increasing the security and performance of web sites and services. "It is the chemical plant of the CNPC in Jilin Province. PetroChina was sued US$32 million in one of nation’s largest public interest lawsuits five years later. China Dialogue is an independent organisation dedicated to promoting a common understanding of China’s urgent environmental challenges. Impact of the Songhua River Benzene Incident on China' s Environmental Policy[click to view], [2] China blames oil firm for chemical spill[click to view], [3] The Songhua River Spill: China's Pollution Crisis[click to view], [4] China pledges to minimize impact of river pollution on Russia[click to view], In pictures: Harbin toxic leak (BBC News)[click to view], The Jilin chemical plant explosions and Songhua River Pollution Incident, China, 6 killed, dozens injured, over 10,000 evacuated, Former Premier Wen Jiabao, Former Minister of China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) Xie Zhenhua, Vice Governor of Jilin province Jiao Zhengzhong and Deputy General Manager of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Zeng Yukang, former Jilin Vice Mayor Wang Wei, Environmental Protection Bureaux of Heilongjiang Province, Jiamusi and Harbin, as well as SEPA Environmental Monitoring Centre, Heilongjiang Environmental Monitoring Centre and Jiamusi Environmental Monitoring Station. The joint operators of the oilfield, ConocoPhillips and China National Offshore Oil Co, were ordered to establish two funds to clean up and compensate for any damages arising from the incidents. Many of these articles traced the chain of responsibility and cover-up leading back to the explosion, in the process implicating high-ranking officials first in Jilin and later in Harbin. The company "deeply regrets" the spill and would take responsibility for handling the consequences, CNPC's deputy general manager, Zeng Yukang, was quoted as saying. The State Environmental Protection Administration (now the Ministry of Environmental Protection) minister Xie Zhenhua lost his job because of the spill, and was also blamed for initially underestimating the scale of the disaster. Other water supplies in the city had been shut down earlier with no explanation from the local government of Harbin resulting to panic among the residents of the city.

Apart from the danger to the Chinese population and environment, the spill could also have diplomatic repercussions as it heads toward the point where the Songhua River joins the Heilongjiang River, which then crosses the Russian border in the region of Khabarovsk, about 550 kilometers downriver from Harbin (ibid). If you are a social media user, then we are able to do this through a pixel provided by Facebook, which allows Facebook to place cookies on your web browser. Environmental and other groups have suggested that the food chain in the river basin and corresponding region could be affected for some time. What you need to know about workers in China, construction sites, which are the most dangerous workplaces in China, One year after Tianjin, power plant explosion kills at least 21, At least 19 killed fighting forest fire in Sichuan, Chengdu authorities seal off Foxconn factory after explosion kills three, Transport company in tanker explosion repeatedly violated safety standards, Two major accidents at chemical plants in China this week leave at least 17 dead, Major news reports on the Jilin factory fire, Sichuan chemical plant explosion: investigation reveals familiar problems, Another deadly explosion in Jiangsu claims at least seven lives, CDT: Chemical Plant Explosion in Zhejiang as Information Concerns Follow Shandong Blast, LaborNotes: Anger over China’s Deadly Workplaces after Warehouse Explosion, ACFTU trumpets self-proclaimed achievements in poverty alleviation, Express delivery workers protest wage arrears as Singles Day approaches, Food delivery workers need a trade union to push for real change, Copyright © China Labour Bulletin2011-2020, Explosion near chemical plant kills at least 22. It is unclear if the truck concerned belonged to Hebei Shenghua Chemical Co. or not, and the exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

About 70 people where injured, 21 of these people where sent to the hospital in a serious condition. On November 26, representatives from China's State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) visited both the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi and the United Nations offices in Beijing to provide extensive data on the Songhua spill, after which SEPA continued to send regular updates to the United Nations. China Dialogue uses several functional cookies to collect anonymous information such as the number of site visitors and the most popular pages. What’s The Aurora Borealis And Where Can You See It? The explosion severely polluted the Songhua River, with an estimated 100 tons of pollutants containing benzene and nitrobenzene entering into the river [4]. Following the Songhua incident, the process of establishing the local EPBs was further expedited and prioritized, and both ADB and the World Bank are currently involved in projects helping the establishment of additional RSCs. By November 18, water supplies in Songyuan, Jilin, were partially suspended.

: Among the policy consequences of the spill were a revision of the Water Pollution Control Act and an enhanced focus on emergency response. The explosions killed six, injured dozens, and caused the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents. [1] Positive Spillover? 2015 – April: An explosion ripped through the Gulei PX factory in Zhangzhou, Fujian province, leaving 15 injured, almost two years after a similar accident at the plant had prompted a local official to promise in 2013 that it would never happen again. On the day of the explosions, a water plant in Jilin City was shut down. One witness told news site Upstream: “I saw a fireball towards the back of the truck. At present the RSCs, which include a major center in Chongqing, have met with limited success, but they represent an important step towards a clear chain of accountability in the process of environmental protection, which in itself promotes government transparency. The company "deeply regrets" the spill and would take responsibility for handling the consequences, CNPC's deputy general manager, Zeng Yukang, was quoted as saying. Al pulsar "Accept cookies" consiente dichas cookies. [1] Positive Spillover? Read our privacy policy. The Chinese press were critical of the authorities' response to the disaster. The water supplies were restored on November 23. "Harbin's move to cut off the water supply was not a knee-jerk reaction," Zhang Lanying, an environmental expert from Jilin University, was quoted as saying. An 80 km long toxic slick drifted down the Amur River, and the benzene level recorded was at one point 108 times above national safety levels. This trend is most obvious in the ubiquitous food delivery business in China’s cities where workers are just about forced to break the law and risk their lives in order to make a decent living.

Levels of sodium cyanide, a highly toxic chemical stored at the site, remain many times over the safe limit.