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Officials said that a diesel spill has
contaminated a stretch of China''s Yellow River despite efforts to contain its
spread into the waterway, which provides drinking water to tens of millions of
people. The leak underscored the grave challenges to the environment posed by
China''s rapid economic growth. The public-health scare began when diesel
started gushing into the Wei River, a tributary of the Yellow River in northern
China, from a ruptured pipeline operated by China National Petroleum Corp. Over
the weekend, workers threw 17 floating dams across the Wei to block the toxic
diesel. But scientists discovered diesel traces in a reservoir behind a dam
about 100 kilometers downstream from the point where the Wei joins the Yellow
River. The official said authorities had closed the gates of the dam, one of
the largest along the Yellow River, halting power-generating turbines. A
clean-up operation was under way in the reservoir. So far, no pollution had
been detected downstream. Chinese leaders face growing social unrest linked to
environmental pollution. Chinese state media said cities along the Yellow River
are required to stockpile drinking water in preparation for such an emergency.
Untreated chemicals and waste flowing into China''s river networks have created an
environmental crisis that threatens human health and agricultural production.
The Yellow River is dry in parts because of unchecked water diversion by cities
along its path. A press official at the Shaanxi provincial government said the
leak occurred during a test run of the pipeline. CNPC''s General Manager Jiang
Jiemin said in a statement that although preliminary control efforts had
succeeded, clean-up operations were being extended further downstream along the
Wei and "the situation is still severe."
