Chemical Spill Pollutes Shanxi Politics
After a dangerous chemical spill polluted north China waterways and delays in reporting it raised the specter of the second cover-up of an industrial accident in weeks in Shanxi province the problem is seeping into the political system.
In the latest incident, nine tons of a 39-ton spill of the chemical aniline from a plant in Shanxi flowed by river deep into neighboring provinces before local authorities went public with the news. Days earlier, Shanxi authorities conceded officials in another part of the province had also taken their time in disclosing a deadly Dec. 25 railway tunnel cave-in that killed eight workers.
The aniline discharge killed fish in the Zhouzhang River. When news of the spill was made public on Saturday, five days after the incident, the Hebei province city of Handan shut off water supplies for many residents. State media said the pollution was detected in Henan province as well.
The political damage may be more long-lasting than the risk to human and animal health from the aniline, which is used in dyeing, agriculture fertilizers and rubber manufacturing. News of cover-ups in China increasingly prompt searching for someone to blame and Shanxi now has a top official with widespread name recognition: Li Xiaopeng, the son of an unpopular former Chinese premier, Li Peng. The younger Mr. Li became acting governor of the province late last year after a career in the power sector, which gorges on Shanxi coal for its electrical plants.
State media said Mr. Li expressed contrition about the railway tunnel collapse, which occurred just as he was assuming his new office. He visited the site and promised a full investigation.
Now blame is falling onto Mr. Li for delays in reporting the chemical spill, though there is no evidence top levels of the provincial government were aware of the accident when it took place. On Sina Corp. SINA -0.36%’s Weibo microblog service, one writer said Monday that Mr. Li “should resign as an apology to the people.”
So far, clear political fallout from the chemical spillage has been localized to the city of Changzhi , where the initial spill was detected on Dec. 31. It was blamed on faulty equipment at a plant run by state-owned Shanxi Tianji Coal Chemical Industry Group. The company sacked four of its employees.
Zhang Bao, Changzhi’s mayor, appeared at a news conference early Monday to explain delays in informing the public.
In his nationally broadcast comments, Mr. Zhang said that the initial reading of a 1.5 ton spill appeared manageable by the company. But officials failed to realize how poor company management, faulty equipment and open rainwater drains would conspire to send the chemicals into the river.
“[We] never imagined that such a small accident could turn into a big environmental pollution incident,” Mr. Zhang said.
苯胺泄漏事故攪動山西政壇
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一種危險化學品發生泄漏並污染中國北方水道之後﹐有關部門延遲報告此事﹐這引發外界對山西省數週來可能第二次瞞報工業事故的關切。這一問題已經滲入中國的政治體系。
相關報導
在這起最新事故中﹐山西一家化工廠有39噸化學品苯胺發生泄漏﹐其中九噸流入河道並給相鄰省份造成了嚴重影響。但事故發生後多日﹐有關部門一直沒有披露這一消息。幾天前﹐山西省政府承認﹐該省另一地區的官員同樣瞞報了去年12月25日發生的一起導致八名工人死亡的鐵路隧道爆炸事故。
泄漏的苯胺毒死了濁漳河中的魚群。上週六有關此次苯胺泄漏的新聞才得以披露（此時距事故發生已經過去五天）﹐就在這天河北邯鄲切斷了很多居民的自來水供應。中國官方媒體報道說﹐河南省境內也檢測出污染物。
Xinhua/Zuma Press
中國官方媒體報道說﹐李小鵬對鐵路隧道爆炸事故感到悲痛、震驚和憤慨。這一事故發生時﹐李小鵬剛剛履新。李小鵬前往事故現場並承諾徹查此事。
現在外界則因此次遲報苯胺泄漏事故指責李小鵬﹐雖然沒有證據表明事故發生時山西省政府高層清楚事故的具體情況。新浪微博一位用戶週一表示﹐李小鵬應該辭職﹐以表示對人民的道歉。
到目前為止﹐此次苯胺泄漏事故在政治上造成的明確影響還侷限在長治一地。去年12月31日此次泄漏事故最初就是在這裡被發現的。事故原因是國有企業山西天脊煤化工集團有限公司(Shanxi Tianji Coal Chemical Industry Group.)在當地的一家化工廠的設備發生故障。該公司有四名責任人被撤職。
長治市市長張保週一早上現身新聞發佈會﹐解釋遲報事故的原因。
在這場被國內媒體廣泛報道的發佈會上﹐張保說天脊公司最初上報的泄漏量為1.5噸﹐該公司認為事故規模可控。但有關負責人未能意識到該公司對自身設備、設施管理不善﹐造成外泄苯胺通過雨水、污水管道流入濁漳河﹐造成污染。
張保說﹐我們從未想到這樣一個一般性安全生產事故會發展成環保大事故。
消基會抽檢／頂好洗選蛋 驗出氟甲磺氯黴素
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| 頂好超市販售的洗選鮮雞蛋，被檢測出含有氟甲磺氯黴素，頂好超市已全面下架。 （記者陳志曲攝） |
毒性恐致血癌病變
消基會食品委員會召集人、台大教授陳明汝說，氯黴素毒性高，烹煮無法完全破壞，進入人體恐影響骨髓和紅血球增生，甚至導致再生性不良貧血、引發血癌前期病變，政府已在二○○二年禁用。
依規定，氯黴素可用來增加肉雞小雞抵抗力，不過仍有上市前的停藥期限制，但蛋雞則不可以此做為預防傳染病的藥物。
食品藥物管理局組長蔡淑貞表示，將要求地方衛生局再次抽檢，同時移交給農委會追查源頭。此外，所謂的包裝食品定義是食品需經過密封包裝、且拆封後無法還原才算，因此，盒裝蛋算是散裝食品。未來也會檢討雞蛋等與民生密切相關的散裝食品管理方式。
頂好下架接受退貨
頂好超市表示，被消基會檢出不合格的蛋是該公司自有品牌的雞蛋，每個月固定都會抽檢，目前供應商提供的檢驗報告均是合格的，並未檢出氟甲磺氯黴素，但昨日還是先將該雞蛋下架，並接受消費者退換貨。
消基會去年十月在北部賣場、雜貨店及超商購買二十件雞蛋，十四件盒裝、六件散裝，在沙門氏桿菌檢驗上全數合格，藥物殘留上，僅頂好超市所屬的惠康百貨經銷、香港牛奶國際商標公司委託製造的「特惠牌」盒裝蛋違規含氟甲磺氯黴素。
標榜含硒蛋 價格翻倍
調查另發現，有五件樣品宣稱或隱喻含硒，標榜「機能蛋」，硒檢出量介於每公斤九十至一五○微克，其餘十五件也含硒，每公斤五十微克以下。
消費者雜誌社發行人陳智義說，業者以含硒披上「營養」外衣，售價就從每顆單價三至六元，提高為八至十元，價格翻倍。陳明汝指，硒屬抗氧化劑，能預防癌症及心臟病，但對人體同時具有必要性與毒性，吃太多也可能中毒，其實一些蔬菜、肉類及五穀就含硒，不需要花較多錢買含硒蛋。
陳智義則表示，相關研究建議一天攝取硒為五十五微克、上限四百微克，一天吃十幾顆蛋才會過量，民眾毋須擔心。
陳明汝並提醒，蛋殼沾染糞便易受病菌污染，最好清洗乾淨，且最好不要生食。
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