The imbalanced distribution of chemical and petrochemical projects and the lack of prevention mechanism has caused environmental risks to China's major water areas, China's environmental official said on Wednesday.

After the northeastern Songhua River suffered grave pollution last year, caused by accident at an upstream chemical plant, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) launched a thorough-going inspection to the chemical and petrochemical projects close to the major water areas in China.

The results of the inspection show that the environmental risks incurred by improper distribution of the chemical industry are fairly high, said Pan Yue, deputy director of SEPA.

"The environmental risks caused by improper distribution cannot be solved within a short period of time, as the cost of relocation of the projects will be too high," said Pan.
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(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)