Amur River MAC levels not exceeded - ministry

MOSCOW, August 9 (Itar-Tass) - The maximal allowable concentration
(MAC) norms of toxic substances in the Amur River in the Jewish Autonomous
Region of the RF Khabarovsk Territory has not been exceeded, spokeswoman
for the Far Eastern regional centre of the Emergency Situations Ministry
Yekaterina Potvorova said on Monday.
"Inspectors of the State Inspectorate of Small Vehicles of the RF
Emergencies Ministry are monitoring the river waters in the area where the
Sungari River flows into the Amur," she noted.
According to her, "three additional surveillance posts will be set up
in the Nizhneleninskoye, Nizhnespadskoye and Petrovskoye settlements."
"Besides, specialists of the Far Eastern Territorial Administration for
Hydrometeorological and Environmental Monitoring and units of the Russian
Federal Consumer Rights Protection and Human Health Control Service
(Rospotrebnadzor) organised points of additional taking of water samples
for the evaluation of the water quality in the Amur River. There is no
threat to the life and health of Far Eastern residents," Potvorova
stressed.
On July 28, over 7,000 barrels with chemicals were washed into the
Sungari River from warehouses of chemical plants. There are no exact data
on how many barrels were unsealed and how many exploded in the water.
The Sungari River flows from the emergency zone will come to the place
of confluence with the Amur on August 10-12. Additional posts for taking
samples and analyses of the water quality have already been set up here,
near the Nizhneleninskoye settlement.
The Chinese side pledged that all the containers with chemicals have
been retrieved from the Sungari, there is no ecological threat and danger
of the Amur's contamination. Russian experts who are analysing information
provided by the Chinese colleagues also believe that there is low
probability of a serious chemical contamination threat.
However, the preventive measures have been taken. The Khabarovsk city
is supplied with drinking water through an intake in the Amur River. The
Vodokanal water utility enterprise is ready for additional water
purification with the use of absorbent carbon. The drinking water demand
has been calculated and its delivery to the population by air transport
has been planned in case the water intake is shut due to a high river
water contamination level. However, experts believe that they will not
have to resort to such measures. A laboratory base of the Russian Federal
Consumer Rights Protection and Human Health Control Service
(Rospotrebnadzor) and other structures has been prepared for work in a
round-the-clock regime. Interaction of all organisations and services
participating in the monitoring and ensuring safety of the population has
been organised in the Khabarovsk Territory and Jewish Autonomous Region.
Dalgidromet and other agencies said earlier that the chemicals
contained in the barrels form non-toxic chemical products when they
inter-react with water. The probability of serious contamination of the
Amur River basin is extremely low as a result of these chemicals' getting
into the water because of the unsealing and explosion of several dozen
barrels.
According to earlier reports, China has taken away some 7,138 barrels,
including 3,571 barrels with chemicals, flooded away into the Sungari
River from the stocks of chemical plants in the Chinese Jilin province.
"The Sungari water tests taken in the provinces Jilin and Heilongjiang
show that no excessive chemical pollution is registered in the river," a
source in the Chinese General Consulate in Khabarovsk said. "An operation
to retrieve chemical containers from the Sungari River is finalizing, they
will not get in the Amur River, so, there is no threat of chemical
pollution in the river," he noted. China is eliminating all incident
aftermath on its territory.
Russian experts also consider the Amur chemical pollution only
slightly probable. The Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and
Environmental Monitoring, the Federal Service for Supervision of Nature
Resources and some other agencies are carrying out the round-the-clock
monitoring that proves that microbiological and physical-chemical
indicators of the Amur River waters meet all standards. The chemicals in
the barrels do not produce toxic pollutants reacting with the water and
dissolve in the water, specialists said.
However, the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region are
ready for an unexpectedly aggravated situation if the remaining chemicals
get into the Amur River. Russian Far Eastern meteorologists estimated, the
Sungari polluted waters from the chemical spill area in the Jilin province
will reach the Russian border on August 12-13 and the city of Khabarovsk
on August 15-16.
Additional posts will be placed to take water samples for water
quality tests along the trans-border area of the Amur River up to
Khabarovsk. A close monitoring is underway near the junction of the
Sungari River and the Amur River, the Far Eastern Emergency Ministry
Regional centre reported.
-0-ezh/gor