China Chemical Spill Threatens Water of 200,000
Reuters reports on a chemical spill in Yunnan province:
A truck has overturned and spilt a powerful chemical into a river in southwestern China, threatening the drinking water of more than 200,000 people, the official Xinhua agency said on Monday.
The truck was carrying 33.6 metric tons of crude phenol, which in its diluted form can be used as a disinfectant or antiseptic, when it overturned on Saturday near the upper reaches of the Baise dam in Yunnan province, the report said.
By Monday, the chemicals in the Zhesang river had reached the dam area, and were just 15 kilometers upstream from where water is piped off to supply 200,000 people.
Origin: Emma Graham-Harrison, Reuters
