The Maritime Supervision Administration (MSA) of Nanjing,
capital of east China's Jiangsu
Province, is sparing no efforts to collect the toxic, flammable
cyclohexanone that leaked from a tanker ship into the Yangtze River
Sunday.
The chemical spill was caused by a collision involving two
tankers ships.
According to an MSA official who declined to be named, by 6 PM
Tuesday evening workers had cleaned up most of the spill.
Local newspapers reported that about 80 tons of cyclohexanone,
often used as a solvent or as an additive to adhesives, had spilled
into the water.
"The actual amount of the chemical that poured into the river is
much less than that,'' the official said, "but we cannot provide an
accurate figure now.''
The Nanjing MSA took special measures to enclose the water area
containing cyclohexanone, and used more than a ton of oil
absorption material to collect the chemical.
"Since cyclohexanone does not really dissolve in water, we can
collect it this way,'' explained the official.
He claimed that cyclohexanone has low pollution toxicity, so
that the spill should have little impact on the city's water
supply.
Water supply companies in the city said they would still pay
close attention to the accident and its effects.
Witnesses said the oil tanker Chicheng was turning in the area
near a dock while the Changrun was sailing away from the dock. They
collided at around 2:00 Sunday afternoon.
A big hole opened on the starboard side of Changrun, which was
carrying 450 tons of cyclohexanone, and the chemical began to spill
into the river.
A strong smell spread over the surface of the water, which
caused chaos among the crew. Cyclohexanone typically smells of
ketone.
Police, firefighters and staff from the Nanjing MSA reportedly
rushed to the scene of the accident spot within minutes. They first
evacuated the crew and nearby residents, and then moved the oil
tanker to the riverbank. Meanwhile, they took steps to transfer the
chemical to another ship as quickly as possible.
The official said that some MSA staff members jumped into the
water to attempt to close the breech in the hull, using even bed
quilts to stop it.
No injuries were reported in the accident, according to the
police station at Xiaguan, a district of Nanjing.
"All the rescue work was finished around four on Sunday,'' the
official said. "The remaining work was just to clean the polluted
water.''
(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2004)