MOSCOW, December 9 (RIA Novosti) - An emergency situation is unlikely to arise in the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk on the Amur River, following a petrochemical spillage in the Songhua, the river's Chinese tributary, the head of the Russian Emergency Situations' national monitoring and forecasting center said Friday.
"According to revised data, the concentration of benzene in the Amur in the Khabarovsk Region is not expected to exceed the maximum acceptable level," Vladislav Bolov said. "The measures being taken are sufficient to avoid an emergency situation caused by an interruption to the city's water supply."
About 100 metric tons of chemicals, including potentially lethal benzene, spilled into the Songhua River after an explosion at a Chinese petrochemical plant November 13.
A ministry representative said the concentration of benzene in the contaminated waters when they pass through Nizhneleninsk in the Jewish Autonomous Region, before reaching Khabarovsk, will be between three to five times the maximum acceptable level. The area has no water control structure, he said.
The ministry said the toxic spill, currently 200km from the Russian border, would reach the Jewish Autonomous Region December 17-20 and the Khabarovsk Region December 23-26.
"In the past 24 hours, it has moved 30km at a speed of 1 km/h," the ministry's press service said.
An line of information exchange on the issue has been established between the Russian Foreign Ministry and Chinese authorities.
Preparatory measures are in place to prepare for the restricted water supply in the affected areas.
A three-day supply drinking water reserve of 92,000 cu m has been created in the Khabarovsk Region.
In Khabarovsk, 93 underground wells and 88 water-carrying vehicles have been prepared for use, and water-distribution points have been selected in residential areas. Similar work is being done in other cities further downriver.
In the region's hydraulic works, 230 metric tons of absorbent carbon have been placed to absorb the chemicals.
