The pollution caused by a sulfuric acid spill had been under control by Wednesday and has had little adverse effect on nearby residents, according to a local environmental protection authority on Wednesday.

Local environmental protection workers have put eight tons of alkaline substances into the pond to neutralize the acid, said Wu Zhen, deputy-director of Shanghai Pudong District Environmental Protection Bureau.

The accident occurred at a newly built village in Gaoqiao Town in booming Pudong District. Posters were put on nearby walls to warn locals against eating dead fish.

"The pond water is mainly used to water trees. Villagers mostly use tap water in daily life, so the accident caused little inconvenience," said Li Yufang, a 68-year-old woman living near the pond.

A tanker carrying sulfuric acid collided with a container truckin Pudong on Tuesday, spilling the noxious chemical into a roadside watercourse which ends in a pond.

An estimated 1,000 square meters of water surface were contaminated.

An investigation showed that the container truck, registered in Shandong, bumped into the rear of a tanker owned by the Fourth Branch of the Shanghai Chemical Commodity Transportation Company.

(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2005)