Civilians join race to get barrels
Source: Xinhua |
July 31, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Civilians were mobilized yesterday to join exhausted soldiers and emergency workers struggling against mounting difficulties to retrieve thousands of chemical-filled barrels that were swept into a major northeast China river by floodwaters two days ago.
Some 3,000 full barrels and 4,000 empty ones were swept into the Wende River and on to the Songhua River after floods hit warehouses of two chemical factories in Yongji County, Jilin Province, early Wednesday.
As of 6pm yesterday, 3,700 of the containers had been retrieved, according to the provincial government.
Provincial authorities vowed to retrieve all the containers before they flow out of Hadashan Reservoir on the lower reaches of Songhua River in Jilin's Songyuan City.
However, salvage workers fear some of the barrels, many filled with 170 kilograms of flammable liquid, may have sunk to the bottom of the Songhua River, raising serious risks of lingering water contamination. Chemical barrels were also spotted lying unattended in the debris of flood-devastated villages.
At 2pm yesterday, the Fengman Reservoir, on a tributary of the Songhua River 24 kilometers southeast of Jilin City, opened floodgates to discharge floodwaters. Thousands of residents had been evacuated over Thursday night and yesterday morning.
Workers said the move might speed up salvage efforts by washing away floating debris, such as trash, weeds and tree branches, which hampered the work.
Yesterday, the local government encouraged the public to join in the operation, announcing a bounty of 100 yuan (US$15) for each full barrel and 50 yuan for each empty one that local people brought in.
It was not clear whether professional handling was needed for the chemicals, but a local official said many riverside residents "had experience in salvage."
Soldiers and emergency workers stationed at eight points on the waterways in Jilin Province have worked around the clock since late Wednesday to collect the barrels before the torrents carry them further down the Songhua River into neighboring Heilongjiang Province.
However, helicopter spotters who have been tracking the barrels lost sight of some of them. Experts fear they may have sunk into the river -- making their retrieval more difficult.
A video posted on Chinese web portal Sina.com showed a barrel catching fire and exploding on the river's surface.
Of the 3,000 chemical-filled barrels, about 2,500 contain trimethyl chloro silicane -- a colorless flammable liquid -- while 500 contain hexamethyl disilazane, also a colorless liquid, officials earlier said.
"The chemical will not cause havoc on the river unless a large number of containers are damaged at one time," said Sun Lili, an engineer with the Design and Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology in Jilin Province.
Some 3,000 full barrels and 4,000 empty ones were swept into the Wende River and on to the Songhua River after floods hit warehouses of two chemical factories in Yongji County, Jilin Province, early Wednesday.
As of 6pm yesterday, 3,700 of the containers had been retrieved, according to the provincial government.
Provincial authorities vowed to retrieve all the containers before they flow out of Hadashan Reservoir on the lower reaches of Songhua River in Jilin's Songyuan City.
However, salvage workers fear some of the barrels, many filled with 170 kilograms of flammable liquid, may have sunk to the bottom of the Songhua River, raising serious risks of lingering water contamination. Chemical barrels were also spotted lying unattended in the debris of flood-devastated villages.
At 2pm yesterday, the Fengman Reservoir, on a tributary of the Songhua River 24 kilometers southeast of Jilin City, opened floodgates to discharge floodwaters. Thousands of residents had been evacuated over Thursday night and yesterday morning.
Workers said the move might speed up salvage efforts by washing away floating debris, such as trash, weeds and tree branches, which hampered the work.
Yesterday, the local government encouraged the public to join in the operation, announcing a bounty of 100 yuan (US$15) for each full barrel and 50 yuan for each empty one that local people brought in.
It was not clear whether professional handling was needed for the chemicals, but a local official said many riverside residents "had experience in salvage."
Soldiers and emergency workers stationed at eight points on the waterways in Jilin Province have worked around the clock since late Wednesday to collect the barrels before the torrents carry them further down the Songhua River into neighboring Heilongjiang Province.
However, helicopter spotters who have been tracking the barrels lost sight of some of them. Experts fear they may have sunk into the river -- making their retrieval more difficult.
A video posted on Chinese web portal Sina.com showed a barrel catching fire and exploding on the river's surface.
Of the 3,000 chemical-filled barrels, about 2,500 contain trimethyl chloro silicane -- a colorless flammable liquid -- while 500 contain hexamethyl disilazane, also a colorless liquid, officials earlier said.
"The chemical will not cause havoc on the river unless a large number of containers are damaged at one time," said Sun Lili, an engineer with the Design and Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology in Jilin Province.
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