Environment

A survey conducted by China's State Environmental Protection Agency has found that about 45% of the 7,555 chemical plants it inspected throughout China pose an environmental risk. SEPA ordered 3,745 facilities to improve their environmental controls and 49 of them to relocate.

SEPA was prompted to conduct the survey after tons of benzene spilled into northeast China's Songhua River in November following an explosion at a PetroChina facility in Jilin (C&EN, Nov. 21, 2005, page 29). Harbin, a downstream city of 4 million residents, suspended its water supply for five days to protect its population.

Among the plants surveyed, SEPA found that 2,489 were located within 5 km (3 miles) of a "densely populated area" and that 1,354 were near a river, a lake, or the ocean.

But except for their geographical location, the agency did not provide details on what it found wanting at the plants. It's not clear whether the plants' emissions are exceeding existing standards or whether the risk of uncontrolled reactions at the facilities is high.

Nonetheless, the agency declared that the substandard facilities will be forced to close. At a press conference, SEPA Vice Minister Pan Yue said the Chinese chemical industry needs to rethink the way it manages environmental hazards.

Meanwhile, SEPA reports that 164 people are recovering after being exposed to chlorine in Yinchuan, in the country's economically disadvantaged northwest. The agency explains that chlorine gas leaked from a broken pipe at Ningxia Xin'erte Chemical, a producer of trichloroethylene.