Lanzhou to explore 2nd water source after crisis
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E-mail Xinhua, April 16, 2014
Local authorities of Lanzhou City in southwest China's Gansu Province admitted on Tuesday afternoon a lack of regulatory supervision led to a tap water crisis, and pledged to find a second water source for the city as soon as possible.
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Excessive levels of benzene in the water affected more than 2.4 million people in Lanzhou from last Friday to Monday. [Photo/Chinanews.com] |
Excessive levels of benzene in the water affected more than 2.4 million people in Lanzhou from last Friday to Monday.
Lanzhou is the only provincial capital in China without a second water source, said Wang Ning, the spokesman of the emergency response team of the case at a press conference on Tuesday.
The city will start the construction of a second water source soon to ensure water security, Wang said.
Earlier, the tap water supplier Lanzhou Veolia Water Company, a Sino-French joint venture has denied a cover-up of the contamination after excessive levels of a carcinogenic compound were found in its samples.
The supplier collected water samples on April 2 and found abnormal levels of benzene during analysis on Thursday, said Yan Xiaotao, deputy general manager of the Sino-French joint venture.
The excess of benzene was confirmed by further tests at 3 p.m. on Thursday and the company reported the situation to the Lanzhou municipal government at 5 a.m. Friday, Yan said.
There was no late reporting or cover-up, Yan told reporters on Monday afternoon.
However, Wang said there was lack of supervision from the local government after foreign capital was introduced to Lanzhou water supply company in 2006, and they would learn lessons and prevent similar things from happening again.
On Monday, six residents in Lanzhou filed lawsuits to local courts, demanding an apology and compensations from Lanzhou Veolia.
Five of them jointly filed a lawsuit against the company to the Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court. In the indictment, they alleged the company only cut water supply 18 hours after finding the benzene problem.
During this period, polluted tap water flowed into thousands of households and the plaintiffs drank it and their health suffered, they claim.
They alleged the pollution caused panic and seriously disturbed their lives, demanding the defendant compensate them for the money they spent buying bottled water and for their work delays. They also asked for an apology to be printed in newspapers.
The court rejected the petition, saying it was not in line with laws and regulations.
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