From the Time:
Why local leaders kept Harbin ignorant of the reason for turning off its taps.
The reason that officials in northeastern China decided not to announce that a 50 mile slick of toxic benzene was headed downriver toward the city of Harbin earlier this month was their fear of damaging tourism and investment in the region, sources tell TIME. Instead, as the potentially lethal spill approached the metropolis of 10 million people, the city said in an online statement that the entire water supply was being shut down for “water main maintenance and repair.”
