Posted on 11/25/2005 8:27:15 AM PST by FairOpinion
CHEMICAL plant explosion in southwest China has killed one worker and forced thousands of people to be evacuated, state media reported today, raising fears of a second environmental disaster in two weeks.
The explosion occurred around 11am yesterday at the Yingte chemical plant in Chongqing municipality's Dianjiang county, China Business News said.
One female worker died and three others were injured. More than 10,000 residents and students near the plant were evacuated, according to the report.
Two of the workers in a critical condition were suffering from benzene poisoning and burns, it said. Benzene is a carcinogen that can kill if someone suffers high exposure, even in small doses.
The report quoted a safety production official as saying the explosion happened as workers were mixing liquid chemicals in a container.
The first explosion happened near large quantities of barrels of benzene and sparked off a massive blast, the report said.
After a loud bang, a murky yellow cloud "blanketed the sky and the smell was choking," the newspaper said, quoting a local resident.
Officials ordered villagers to stop using local rivers and the local environmental bureau gathered local water and air samples for testing.
Chongqing and Dianjiang's environmental bureaux, as well as local safety authorities and the county government, refused to comment when contacted by AFP.
The factory did not have a valid safety production licence, the China Business News report said.
Yesterday's accident bears similarities to a massive chemical plant explosion in northeast China's Jilin province on November 13 that killed five people and caused major contamination of the 1897km Songhua river.
The Jilin explosion caused 100 tons of benzene and other highly toxic chemicals to flow into the Songhua.
Harbin, the capital of neighbouring Heilongjiang province with a population of nine million people, had its water supplies cut on Tuesday night to prevent widespread contamination.
The 80km slick of benzene and nitrobenzene was flowing through Harbin today and expected to pass the city by tomorrow, although the longer-term environmental and health impacts were unclear.
Authorities initially played down the environmental impact of the Jilin blast, admitting only after 10 days that the Songhua had been polluted.
So any time your gettin’ low
’stead of lettin’ go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another fireworks plant
-Sinatra, "High Hopes"
I guess we don't have much to worry about with the Chinese. That is unless all the poison chemicals make them grow 10 feet tall with extra arms and legs.
Now, china will either have this going on as far as the eye can see, or like the western world, have to spend a fortune on plant and factory safety systems.
And enviro-whackos. and libs of every stripe.
Welcome to our world, China.
I think it was benzene AND other products, the news media just doesn't want to complicate things by listing all the other stuff.
COULD not possibly due to some Suicide bombers could it?
Just a thought.
K.
I don't know about you, but I strongly prefer that China have their chemical and nuclear emergencies in the summer when polar winds are not pushing directly to the USA.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action." - Auric Goldfinger, in "Goldfinger"
Maybe they should have stolen chemical plant information instead of weapons.
Could somebody clarify this sentence?
The author went to public school?
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