MCLC: Lanzhou chemical leak

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Lanzhou chemical leak
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Source: Sinosphere blog, NYT (4/14/14):
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/14/city-says-water-meets-safety
-standards-but-residents-remain-cautious/

City Says Water Meets Safety Standards, But Residents Remain Cautious
By AUSTIN RAMZY 

Officials in the northwestern Chinese city of Lanzhou have declared that a
faulty pipeline was repaired and that the water supply now meets safety
standards, days after tests showed levels of a cancer-causing chemical
more than 20 times national safety limits.

The contamination forced the city to stop supplying water to one district
and triggered panic-buying of bottled water supplies. The declaration on
Sunday that the problem had been resolved has done little to ease
residents’ fears, said Zhao Zhong, China program coordinator for Pacific
Environment, a United States-based NGO.

“The first thought on everyone’s mind has been how to find clean, safe
water,” said Mr. Zhao, who is founder and board member of a Lanzhou
environmental group, Green Camel Bell. “The government says at present
that water levels are up to standard, but the truth is this is a problem
that everyone has been worried about for a long time.”

The water supply was not shut off until nearly 18 hours after tests
indicated a problem, according to a report
<http://finance.chinanews.com/ny/2014/04-14/6058484.shtml> in China Youth
Daily, a state-run newspaper. That prompted criticism that the government
and the Chinese-French joint venture that treats the city’s water, Lanzhou
Veolia Water Company, did not act swiftly enough.

Calls to the news department of Lanzhou Veolia Water went unanswered on
Monday. A company representative, Tian Huaqiang, told China Youth Daily
that the company had not delayed any actions, but that testing for benzene
is a complicated, time-consuming process, and that the decision to shut
off water supplies can only be made by the local government.

Lanzhou, which is located in the Yellow River valley among arid hills, has
a long history of environmental problems. It suffers from sandstorms,
choking smog and occasional toxic spills and explosions associated with
its extensive petrochemical and oil refining industries. In 1998, the
World Resources Institute, an environmental research organization, found
that Lanzhou had the worst air <http://pdf.wri.org/urbanair_health.pdf> of
any city on the planet with a population of over one million.

The authorities said that a leak from a China National Petroleum Corp.
crude oil pipeline may have filtered into a nearly 60-year-old concrete
duct that moved water between two treatment plants. On Sunday,
investigators said that explosions at a C.N.P.C.-owned chemical plant in
1987 and 2002 may have led to the leaks, allowing 34 tons of chemicals to
seep into the soil and through dissolved joint material in the drinking
water pipeline, according to Chinese state media reports
<http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/854394.shtml>.

Tests last week showed <http://weibo.com/2626472787/AFjAbBdkR> drinking
water with levels of benzene as high as 201 micrograms per liter. The
national limit is 10 micrograms. Benzene is a carcinogenic chemical found
in petroleum products and is used as a building block for a range of
plastics, synthetic fibers, pesticides and lubricants.

China’s rapid industrialization and economic development have often
outpaced the ability of environmental regulators to contain pollution.
Large oil and gas companies have struggled to ensure safety and limit
toxic emissions as they try to satisfy soaring demand for gasoline and
industrial chemicals.

Sometimes, as with a deadly crude oil pipeline explosion in the coastal
city of Qingdao last November, the consequences of such safety shortfalls
are immediately evident. But residents in Lanzhou wonder about the
long-term effects to possible exposure to contaminated drinking water.

While some wealthy people in Lanzhou only consume bottled water, Mr. Zhao
said a previous study by his organization found that most residents rely
on tap water for cooking, drinking and bathing.

“In the past, including in March, when many people complained about the
smell of chemicals in the water, residents questioned the government and
local companies who all said the water was up to standard,” said Mr. Zhao.
“So they’re worried that perhaps there have been similar incidents of
tainted water that they didn’t know about.”

Bree Feng contributed research.