Arsenic Leaks Into Southern China River

Aug 14 2007 (TODAY)

BEIJING - A chemical plant leaked arsenic into a river in southern China
that supplies water to at least 20,000 people, a human rights group said.

High levels of arsenic and other chemicals have killed at least 10,000
fish in the 70km Chongan river in Guizhou, the Hong Kong-based Information
Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said on Sunday.

No human injuries have been reported, the group said. Provincial and local
environmental agencies have gone to the area, it added.

Calls to the local government office and the provincial environmental
office rang unanswered yesterday.

China's waterways are dangerously polluted after decades of rapid economic
growth and lax enforcement of pollution controls. Last month, a lead-zinc
spill in a river in Hunan province forced a one-day cut in water supplies
to more than 200,000 people.

In 2005, an accident caused a chemical plant to spew tonnes of toxic
nitrobenzene and other chemicals into north China's Songhua River, forcing
authorities to temporarily halt supplies of running water to millions of
people. - AP