NOWPAP
United Nations Environment Programme
Northwest
Pacific
Action Plan
Distr.
RESTRICTED
UNEP/NOWPAP/DINRAC
FPM 5/Ref.9
10 May 2006
Original: English
Northwest Pacific Action Plan
Data and Information Network
Regional Activity Centre
The 5th NOWPAP DINRAC Focal Points Meeting
Shenzhen, the People’s Republic of China, 10 - 11 May 2006
RESPONSE FROM DINRAC ON CHEMICAL SPILLS AT SONGHUA RIVER
UNEP/NOWPAP/DINRAC FPM 5/Ref.9
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Response from DINRAC to the chemical spill at Songhua River (I)
(Dec 6, 2005)
1. The present status and statistics of the chemical spill
According to the bulletin release from SEPA, the Songhua River in northeast China suffered a major
water pollution incident due to the explosion at the Jilin Petrochemical Company under China National
Petroleum Corporation on November 13. About 100 tons of dangerous chemicals containing benzene
and nitrobenzene equivalent to 10 tanker-truck loads was spewed into the Songhua River. After the
accident, environmental departments started to monitor water quality of the 1,897-km-long Songhua
River and quality of the river water is under close observation for 24 hours every day in Jilin and
Heilongjiang Province.
It is reported officially that the swath of polluted water, which stretches about 80 kilometers long, reached
Zhaoyuan County on the border of Heilongjiang and Jilin at 4:00 p.m. on Nov. 20, with the level of
nitrobenzene and benzene in the water exceeding the national standard (0.017mg/L; 0.01mg/L) by 29.9
times and 2.6 at the highest .
When the swath of polluted water passing through Harbin, the density of nitrobenzene was 0.5805 mg/L,
exceeding the state safety standard by 33.15 times at the highest level at 00:00, 0.4943 mg/L, 28.08
times higher than the safety standard at 07:00 and 0.2003 mg/L, 10.78 times higher than the safety
standard at 18:00 of Nov 25. However, the density of benzene subsided to 0.0052 mg/L at 13:00 of Nov
25, which falls under the national safety standards.
By 1:00 a.m. on Nov 26, concentration of nitrobenzene monitored at Sujiatun upstream Sifangtai, one
major water intake spot of Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, fell to 0.0870 mg/L,
but still above the state safety standard of 0.017 mg/L by 4.12 times, but the density of benzene stood at
0.0011 mg/L, which is within the state safety benchmark.
By 00:00 on Nov 28, concentration of nitrobenzene monitored at Bayan section was 0.1994 mg/L,
exceeding the state safety standard by 10.73 times. At 20:00 on Nov 28, the concentration of
nitrobenzene at Bayan section reached the highest level while at 00.00 a.m. of Nov 30, it shows that
concentration of nitorbenzene was 0.2660mg/L, 14.65 times higher than the state standard.
While in Mulan Baidu Section of lower reaches of Songhua River, it shows that by 06:00 on Nov 28, no
benzene was found in the water while the concentration of nitrobenzene was 0.009mg/L, but by 06:00 on
Nov 30, the concentration of nitrobenzene was 0.1420 mg/L, 7.35 times higher than the state benchmark;
at 00.00 of Dec 1, the concentration of nitrobenzene reached 0.3790 mg/L, 21.29 times higher than the
standard.
UNEP/NOWPAP/DINRAC FPM 5/Ref.9
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In Tonghe Section, it shows that at 00.00 of Dec 1, concentration of nitrobenzene was 0.0115 mg/L; at
02:00 it reached 0.0220 mg/L; at 04:00 it was 0.0754 mg/L while the density of benzene was within the
state safety standard. At 02:00 of Dec 2, the concentration of nitorbenzene reached 0.317 mg/L, 17.6
times higher than the state benchmark.
In Dalianhe Section, it shows that at 21.00 of Dec 2, concentration of nitrobenzene was 0.0326 mg/L,
0.92 times higher than the standard; at 04:00 of Dec 3, it reached 0.0850 mg/L, 4 times higher than the
standard.
According to the bulletin release from SEPA on Dec 4, the swath of polluted water, which stretches about
130 kilometers long, is in the range from Tonghe Section to Dalianhe Section of Songhua River. It
showed that the concentration of nitrobenezene was 0.0202 mg/L, exceeding state standard by 0.19
times at 18:00 a.m. of Dec 3 in Baidu Section of Mulan County; the concentration of nitrobenezene was
0.1686 mg/L, exceeding state standard by 8.92 times at 00:00 of Dec 4 in Tonghe Section; the
concentration of nitrobenezene was 0.145 mg/L, exceeding state standard by 7.53 times at 05:00 of Dec
4 and 0.1923 mg/L, exceeding the standard by 10.36 times at 23:00 of Dec 4 in Dalian Section of Yilan
County.
By 20:00 on Dec 5, the concentration of nitrobenezene was 0.022 mg/L, 0.29 times higher than the state
safety standard in the Tonghe Section; by 04:00 on Dec 6, the concentration of nitrobenezene was 0.154
mg/L, exceeding the standard by 8.1 times in Dalian Section of Yilan County.
It is also reported the front of the swath of polluted water is approaching Jiamusi. But according to the
official, observation data shows the degree of river water pollution has been declining gradually after
days of volatilization, sedimentation and absorption on active carbon and dilution by more river streams
input. And the polluted Songhua water is expected to flow into the Heilong River (called Amur River in
Russia) on the Sino-Russian border in around 7 days judging from the current flow speed of about 2
kilometers an hour.
2. The actions taken by the responsible Governments
Upon receiving the report of the explosion at the Jilin Petrochemical Company under China National
Petroleum Corporation, the State Environmental Protection Administration immediately sent experts to
Heilongjiang Province to assist local pollution-control efforts. Quality of the river water is under close
observation for 24 hours every day. A round-the-clock water surveillance is underway particularly along
the river's Harbin section. SEPA has also allocated 800,000 yuan (99,000 US dollars) to provincial
environmental departments for the same purpose.
The Jilin and Heilongjiang provincial governments have activated their contingency programs for
environmental incidents and have taken measures to ensure the safety of potable water. Jilin had quickly
blocked entry of the pollutants into the river, cautioned riverside enterprises and its downstream neighbor
UNEP/NOWPAP/DINRAC FPM 5/Ref.9
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and increased the water discharge volume of Fengman Hydroelectric Power Plant and the Nierji
Hydropower Station to dilute the contamination, which was approved by the State Flood Control and
Drought Relief Headquarters. It also organized environmental, water conservancy and chemical experts
to discuss pollution control plans, and beefed up monitoring work. The finance department of the
Heilongjiang provincial government has allocated 10 million yuan (approximately 1.23 million US dollars)
especially for handling the pollution incident. In addition, over 1,400 tons of active carbon absorbent are
put into Songhua River to purify nitrobenzene pollutants floating in Harbin.
After the accident, China has informed Russia of the situation including the various lab test results such
as the pollutant's species and density and the location of polluted stretches. China had already offered
the Russian Embassy to China with a list of pollutants in the Songhua River and equipment to monitor
benzene concentration. China and Russia are making specific arrangements for opening a hotline for the
matter. On Nov 27 of 2005, China also informed the headquarters and their respective representative
offices of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP) of the major pollution in northeast China's Songhua River. On Dec 1, China declared it would
provide tools testing the water quality and activated carbon for the Russian border city of Khabarovsk and
the Jewish autonomous province.
3. The predicted impact of the spilt chemicals to the NOWPAP region
In the light of the current measures taken by China and current situation of polluted Songhua River, the
concentration of nitrobenezene and benezene has been declining gradually. But regarding to the impact
of the spilt chemicals to the NOWPAP region, we think it is still a little early to make conclusion.
UNEP/NOWPAP/DINRAC FPM 5/Ref.9
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Response from DINRAC to the chemical spill at Songhua River (II)
(Dec 12, 2005)
1. The present status and statistics of the chemical spill
According to the environmental bulletin on Dec 6, the front of the pollutants on northeast China's
Songhua River has approached 54 kilometers upstream of Jiamusi City. The Section is 298 kilometers
away from the downstream city of Tongjiang, the joining point of the Songhua River and the Heilongjiang
River. At this Section, the density of nitrobenzene was at 0.004mg/L at 04:00 of Dec 6, which is within the
national standard. At the Dalianhe Section in Yilan County, located upstream 388 kilometers away from
Tongjiang City, the density has dropped after passage of the pollutants; at 04:00, the density of
nitrobenzene amounted to 0.154mg/L, exceeding the national standard by 8.1 times. At the Tonghe
Section, which is 455 kilometers upstream of Tongjiang, the density of nitrobenzene amounted to 0.022
mg/L at 20:00 on Dec 5, exceeding the national standard by 0.29 times.
On Dec 7, it was reported that at 00:00, the density of nitrobenzene was at 0.0340mg/L, exceeding the
national standard by 1.0 times at the 54 kilometers upstream of Jiamusi City. At the Dalianhe Section in
Yilan County, the density of nitrobenzene was still dropping; at 21:00 of Dec 6, the density of
nitrobenzene amounted to 0.1006mg/L, exceeding the national standard by 4.92 times. At the Tonghe
Section, the density of nitrobenzene was within the national standard.
On Dec 8, it was revealed that the swath of polluted water had left Dalian Section of Yilan County and
was passing through upstream Section of Jiamusi. At 04:00 on Dec 8, the nitrobenzene density at the
Jiamusi monitoring section, which is 244 kilometers away from downstream city of Tongjiang, stood at
0.0057 mg/litre, below the safety level and no benzene was detected. At 00:00, the nitrobenzene density
at the upstream Section of Jiamusi stood at 0.1420 mg/L, 7.35 times higher than the national safety
standard. While at the Dalian Section, the nitrobenzene density stood at 0.0657 mg/L, 2.86 times higher
than the national safety level and the benzene density was 0.0015 mg/L, below the safety level. At the
Tonghe Section, the density of nitrobenzene was below the national safety level.
According to the environmental bulletin on Dec 9, the density of nitrobenzene at the Jiamusi Section
began to mount up and reached 0.0780 mg/L at 04:00, exceeding the national standard by 3.59 times. At
the upstream Section of Jiamusi, the density of nitrobenzene reached the highest, which was 0.2610
mg/L at 12:00 of Dec 8, 14.35 times higher the national standard; at 00:00 of Dec 9, the density of
nitrobenzene was 0.2107 mg/L, exceeding the national standard by 11.39 times. At the Dalian Section of
Yilan County, the density of nitrobenzene was decreasing and stood at 0.0141 mg/L at 04:00 of Dec 9,
which was still below the national safety level.
UNEP/NOWPAP/DINRAC FPM 5/Ref.9
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On Dec 10, the front of pollutants has arrived at Huachuan Section, which is 202.8 kilometers away from
the upstream of Tongjiang. At Huachuan Section, the density of nitrobenzene was 0.0136 mg/L within the
national safety level at 22:00 of Dec 9. At the Jiamusi Section, the density of nitrobenzene was going up
and reached 0.1700 mg/L at 04:00 of Dec 10, exceeding the national standard by 9 times. At the
upstream Section of Jiamusi, the density of nitrobenzene was continuously dropping; at 00:00 of Dec 10,
the density of nitrobeneze stood at 0.0550 mg/L, 2.24 times higher than the national standard. At the
Dalian Section of Yilan County, the density of nitrobenzene began to attain the national safety standary
from 02:00 of Dec 9.
On Dec 11, the density of nitrobenzene at Huachuan Section was rising gradually and hit 0.1270 mg/L at
04:00, 6.47 times higher than the national standard. At the Jiamusi Section, the density of nitrobeneze
reached the highest of 0.1730 mg/L at 08:00 of Dec 10, exceeding the standard by 9.18 times and then
declined to 0.0810 mg/L, 3.76 times higher than safety standard at 04:00 of Dec 11. At the upstream
Section of Jiamusi, the density of nitrobenzene was declining continuously and stood at 0.0310 mg/L at
12:00 of Dec 10.
The latest monitoring data on Dec 12 showed that the swath of polluted water in the Soughua River will
move out from Jiamusi Section, 244 kilometers away from upstream of Tongjiang. At this Section, the
density of nitrobenzene was 0.0270 mg/L, exceeding the national standard by 0.59 times at 04:00 of Dec
12. While at Huachuan Section, the density of nitrobenzene stood at 0.1740 mg/L and 0.1450 mg/L,
exceeding the national standard by 9.24 times and 7.53 times, at 16:00 and at 18:00 of Dec 11
respectively.
It was reported that the pollutant density in the Songhua River had lowered sharply as the pollution slick
passed through Jiamusi. According to monitoring statistic data, the highest density of nitrobenzene was
0.581 mg/L at Sujiatun Section of Harbin while the highest density of nitrobenzene was 0.261 mg/L at the
upstream Section of Jiamusi. It is predicted that the pollutant density will continue to fall when the
pollution belt arrives at the downstream city of Tongjiang, where the Songhua River joins the Heilongjiang
River that flows into Russia.
2. The actions taken by the responsible Governments
At the request of the Russian side, the Northeastern Heilongjiang Province is considering to build a
temporary dam at the confluence of its Heilong and Wusuli rivers to prevent the water sources of a
neighboring Russian city from being contaminated. On Dec 6, the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources
sent an expert panel to Jiamusi, where the waterway stands, to study the possibility of building the dam.