Source:
XinhuaSHANGHANG, Fujian, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Three managing personnel of a copper plant have been detained and a county official has resigned after the plant contaminated a local river in Shanghang County, east China's Fujian Province.
. . .
The persistent heavy rains in the past weeks caused the impermeable seal of the sewage tank to burst, spewing a large quantity of waste water, according to the investigation.
The investigation showed altogether 9,100 cubic meters of waste water spewed from the blown-out sewage tank flowed through an "illegally built passage" into the Tingjiang River between 4 p.m. July 3 and 2:30 p.m. July 4.
The investigation also found the "passage" was dug through the impermeable wall of the surveillance tank, which sits right next to the sewage tank and had been built to monitor and collect the waste water leaked from the sewage tank, and this passage was actually connected to an outfall used to drain flood waters.
Read more:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-07/16/c_111961949.htm
another article:
Contaminated waters kill at least 1,890 tons of fish http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/7068286.html<snip>
"Although copper is not one of the top heavy-metal pollutants, like lead and mercury, excessive copper in the body can damage the liver and gallbladder, as well as the brain," said Wang Shengrui, a researcher with the State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory for Lake Pollution Control.
Copper, he explained, becomes attached to the body of fish and shellfish, which contaminates the food chain, and settles into the mud and sand on the riverbed.
The pollution is also irreversible. Unlike chemical compounds which can be decomposed or diluted, once heavy metals are released into water or on land, they are difficult to extract and will have a long-term negative impact on the area, he added.
<snip>
Fishermen in Shanghang appealed to the authorities for help several days before the pollution announcement. After receiving no response, angry villagers blocked the gates of the county government building on June 23 with tons of dead fish.
Officials immediately vowed to launch a thorough investigation into the cause of the problem.
"But things turned worse on July 3 as large numbers of fish began to die," said Qiu. "The surface of the water was covered with layer upon layer of dead fish. We tried to clear them so we could save those alive underneath but they were already beyond salvaging."
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