50 tons of chemicals are being transported to Khabarovsk, a city in the Russian Far East, to address the polluted water flowing from the Songhua River in China. Russian officials have stated that they will declare a state of emergency in the area as soon as benzene is detected in the water.
The water supply to the city will be cut off for at least 40 hours, and schools, child care centers, and restaurants will be closed.
“There is no panic in Khabarovsk. Everyone has enough water reserves. We are not experiencing what happened in Harbin,” said Oleg Mitvol, Deputy Director of the Federal Natural Resources Oversight Agency.
Local officials have increased the supply of clean water in the area and warned local businesses not to raise the price of bottled water by more than 10%.
The contaminated water from the Songhua River is expected to reach the Amur River in Russia in the coming days.
The explosion at the Jilin Petrochemical plant released 100 tons of chemicals into the Songhua River, which is the main water supply for the city of Harbin. Nearly 4 million residents went without tap water for five days until just last evening. However, this water supply is currently not safe for drinking.
