TOPIC 3: Harbin leak: China

Toxic leak 80km (50 miles) long from china, expected to enter Russia from the Songhua river within two weeks. The spill was fraught with enormous damage to the natural environment both of China and Russia. As soon as the presence of benzene (a carcinogenic chemical) is detected at the confluence of the Songhua and the Amur, a state of emergency will be introduced in Khabarovsk (Russia).Cold and hot water supplies will be cut off for at least 40 hours and schools, childcare organisations and restaurants will close. Benzene levels at the songhua had dropped below the official limit at 0600 on Saturday (2200 GMT Friday), but nitrobenzene, was still at 3.7 times the permitted level. Local schools have been closed, about 6,000 people have been evacuated, and officials have gone from house to house warning residents not to use water from the nearby river.
conclusion: Benzene is a carcinogenic chemical and is very harmful to humans and to the environment. The high concentrations of this chemical could kill alot of the river's aquatic organisms. So all the more reason to quicly treat the chemicals sooner and brace themselves from the effects of this spill.