Some 400 tons of activated carbon were delivered to Khabarovsk, Russia on Monday by China to help tackle the toxic slick floating down the Songhua River.

 

It was part of the second batch of 1,000 tons of activated carbon China has promised to send to Russia. The remaining 600 tons will arrive soon, Fan Xianrong, Chinese Consul General in Khabarovsk, told Xinhua after the hand-over ceremony.

 

China had sent 150 tons of activated carbon to Russia prior to the Monday delivery.

 

A blast at a chemical plant last month caused a spill of about 100 tons of benzene, a harmful chemical, into the Songhua River in northeast China. The most concentrated part of the toxic slick has flowed past Khabarovsk, where the concentration of benzene remained under the safety level.

 

Besides activated carbon, China has also provided chromatographs for water samples testing and sent experts to Russia to train native technicians for operating the equipment.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2005)