At least six tons of heavy oil has leaked into the Dashi River in Panyu, Guangzhou, polluting approximately 12 kilometers, the Nanfang Metropolis News reported on September 17.

Preliminary investigations cited a shoe manufacturer as responsible for the leakage, which was detected by nearby villagers on September 14. By September 16, over two tons of the oil had been safely removed. Local environment and sanitation authorities mandated that the clean up be completed in two days.

Shoemaker Guilty for the Leakage

At dusk yesterday, the Nanfang Metropolis News journalist found several local villagers reeking of oil. They were standing on the Sanyan Bridge over the Dashi River. The locals told the journalist that they would receive 200 yuan each if they helped remove the oil from the river. That day 76 villagers managed to recover 2.2 tons of heavy oil.

Currently the Taiwanese owned Guangzhou Lichang Shoes Co., Ltd, is being held accountable for the terrible pollution. The company blamed malfunctioning boilers for the leak.

The Guangzhou Hexing Vessel Cleaning Co., Ltd is in charge of the clean up work. "Some eight kilometers of the main river are polluted. If we include the feeder streams, at least 12 kilometers have been affected. Up to now, we have only finished one third of the total clean up work," a staff member of Hexing was quoted yesterday as saying.

In addition to the one-kilometer long and 30-meter wide polluted section near the Sanyan Bridge, five other nearby streams were affected, an on-site cleaner further explained. He added that they had shut down the water gate under the bridge as of September 15 to prevent pollution from entering the Pearl River and other feeder streams.

Pollution Now under Control

Under the Sanyan Bridge, 40-meter long railings are drifting amid white foam on the river's surface. More than 10 of these bundles of oil-absorbent pads and some 100 plastic barrels are stacked on the riverbank. The company in charge of the clean up revealed that they had already utilized 2,060 kilograms of pads and two tons of chemical reagents to absorb the heavy oil. The 2.2 tons of recovered heavy oil are currently being stored in 13 barrels.

According to ordinary practices, it costs professional institutions approximately 1,600 yuan to treat each ton of recovered pollutants. Ten odd tons of pollutants have been recovered so far. Reliable sources revealed that the shoe manufacturer insisted on treating the pollutants itself because company authorities thought it too expensive to farm out the work. "No one knows how the company will process these pollutants," said someone on the site.

Upon receiving information from the on site journalist yesterday, the director of the Work Group to Monitor and Control Environmental Pollution in Panyu reassured the public that the pollution slick would not flow into the Pearl River.

(China.org.cn by Chen Xia September 17, 2007)