Important/Interesting Facts
- At first the Chinese government thought that the explosion was a terrorist attack
- Citizens evacuated by choice, not because the government told them to do so
- The Chinese government lied about the extent of the damage to the people. They said there was barely any damage so there was no need for remediation
- The government tried to keep it secretive until they had to notify Russia due to embarassment
Air Pollution Following The Explosion
Impact of Environmental Damage
- Surface water pollution and decreasing water quality from spills
- Air pollution from the fires and burning of chemicals
- Soil contamination and groundwater pollution
- Affected the food chain in the river and killed species
- Benezene(spilled into river) is a carcinogen
- 6 recorded deaths and 70+ injuries reported from explosion
Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion
Type of Disaster, Chemicals and Concerns
- This explosion is considered a chemical disaster
- Benzene was the main toxin released because the jam was in nitration tower
- Nitrobenzene, analine, nitrogen and other toxins were also present in river from spill
- The chemicals in river created a 80km toxic slick that went down river, through cities, one part of Russia and then into the Pacific
River With Chemicals
Description of the Event
- On November 13th, 2005 at 1:45 PM there was a massive explosion at a Petrochemical Plant in Jilin Province, China.
- Released over 100 tons of toxins into Songhua River
- Explosion caused by jam in plant's processing nitration tower which produced benzene. Worker tried to unblock, but was unsuccessful.
- Resulted in a fire and spilled chemicals into Songhua river
Halle Nahoum
Who was held responsible? At what cost?
- The careless workers at the chemical plant caused the jam and the person who tried to fix the jam and 'gave up' ultimately caused he explosion
- More extensive damage due to lack of response from Chinese government
- No one was held responsible. No one was fined or put in jail
How was Damage Remediated?
- The factory officials and the local government tried to clean up the explosion on their own at first by draining water and toxins
- When the government got involved they closed the municipal water systems connected to the river. They then filtered water and waited for it to drain into the Pacific
- Not 100% recovered today--much of water is still polluted in China
- However, there are no long term effects on the citizens
- There have not been any laws passed since the accident to prevent this in the future
After Explosion/Beginning of Remediation