Workers rush to retrieve 3,000 chemical-filled barrels in major northeast China river

Workers were rushing Thursday to retrieve the 3,000 chemical-filled barrels that were swept by floods into a major river in northeast China's Jilin Province Wednesday.

Each barrel contains 170 kilograms of chemicals, officials said at a press conference Thursday morning.

Another 4,000 empty barrels also entered the Songhuajiang River.

But no chemicals had been detected in the river's water, Ministry of Environmental Protection spokesman Tao Detian told Xinhua Thursday.

The barrels entered the Wende River and then flowed into the Songhuajiang River after floods hit the storage facilities of two chemical factories -- Jilin Xinyaqiang Biochem Co. Ltd. and Jilin Zhongxin Group.

Of the 3,000 chemical-filled barrels, about 2,500 barrels contain trimethyl chloro silicane -- a colorless flammable liquid with a pungent odor -- while 500 contain hexamethyl disilazane -- a colorless liquid with a pungent odor.

Workers are collecting the barrels at eight points on the river. About 400 have been recovered so far. Water quality is being monitored at seven stations.

The 1,900-km long Songhuajiang River is the largest tributary river for Heilongjiang River which lies between China and Russia.

A chemical spill contaminated the Songhuajiang River in November 2005 after an explosion at a petrochemical plant. Water supplies for 3.8 million in the city of Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, were cut for five days after the accident.

Source:Xinhua