The thawing of the frozen Songhua River in northeast China,
which was seriously polluted by a chemical plant explosion late
last year, will not cause a second pollution as spring approaches,
a top environment official of the country said here Saturday.
Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA),
said at a press conference that China and Russia have reached the
same conclusion regarding the water quality of the Songhua River,
which flows into the Heilong River on the Sino-Russian border.
"Last night I received a most encouraging news from the Russian
side, that they had reached the same conclusion as ours -- there
will be no second pollution of the Songhua River this spring," said
Zhou in response to the question of a Russian journalist.
The conclusion was based on the monitoring, test and analysis of
more than 1,000 environmental experts, said Zhou.
"Our monitoring and study also showed that the fish in the
Songhua River as well as the agricultural and dairy products from
the areas along the river are safe to eat," Zhou told
reporters.
Around 100 tons of pollutants containing hazardous benzene
spilled into the Songhua River after a chemical plant explosion on
Nov. 13 in northeast China's
Jilin Province. It was one of the worst river pollution
incidents since the founding of the People's Republic of China in
1949.
The incident forced the cities along the river, including
Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province and a city of more than 3
million people, to temporarily suspend water supply. As the
pollutants also flowed into the Heilong River (Amur River in
Russia), China and Russia carried out environmental cooperation to
minimize the impact of the transborder pollution.
Zhou said at the press conference that the two governments have
conducted "all-round" and "satisfactory" cooperation and "there is
no difference on any issues" between the two sides.
The official said that his administration has worked out a
detailed plan for the "long-term pollution control and prevention”
of the Songhua River.
The plan will attach utmost importance to ensuring drinking
water safety along the Songhua River, and will introduce a
responsibility system for local governments and officials in
protecting the river from pollution, said Zhou.
The plan is expected to be approved by the central authorities
shortly, and the SEPA will publicize the plan's details through the
media, including the exact amount of investment, he added.
More than 50 percent of China's 21,000 chemical enterprises are
located close to the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, the two longest in
the country, which indeed poses a serious threat to the
environment, the official admitted while answering another
question.
A latest comprehensive investigation in the enterprises found
that many protruding problems, such as improper allocation and
safety risks to the environment, and that some newly-launched
industrial zones may become potential sources of pollution,
according to Zhou.
Since the problems are left over by the past, resolving them
will take some time, said Zhou, noting that the SEPA and relative
government bodies are taking corresponding measures to tackle the
issue.
Zhou, who replaced Xie Zhenhua last December to become the head
of the SEPA, told the journalists that he would work hard not to
follow the trail of his predecessor.
Xie, whose resignation was approved in early December, became
the highest-ranking official to be removed from office for an
environmental incident, as the Chinese authorities are increasingly
aware of the danger of seeking economic development at the cost of
environment, as well as the importance of boosting government
accountability.
Xie's administration "failed to pay sufficient attention to the
incident and underestimated its possible serious effect," said a
joint circular released by the general offices of the Central
Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council to
announce the reshuffle.
As the causes of vital environment pollution incidents are quite
complicated and many problems are left over from the past, it will
take some time to resolve the profound conflicts between
environment and economic development.
Zhou noted that China has reinforced the administration on
environment protection since he took the post, vowing that he would
take full advantage of the latest instruction initiated by the
central authorities to protect the ecological system under the
guidance of the scientific development concept.
"The instruction is a powerful weapon. I will not resign so long
as I make good use of it," Zhou said with a smile, which aroused
some laughs from the journalists present at the press
conference.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2006)