Beijing Vice-Mayor Lu Hao promised that authorities in the
capital would ensure the security of toxic and hazardous chemicals
during the 2008 Olympic Games.
Lu made these remarks at the Fifth Session of the 12th Beijing
Municipal People's Congress over the weekend, according to a report
by the Beijing News.
He said that over the past two years, authorities in Beijing had
compiled a handbook on how to deal with possible accidents
involving the capital's 254 toxic and hazardous chemical factories,
transported chemicals and chemicals that are frequently used in
daily life.
The handbook provides detailed explanations of what procedures,
officials and materials should be involved in any response to
accidents involving hazardous materials.
In response to the growing number of accidents involving toxic
and hazardous chemicals in recent years, the authorities have
tightened their management of such materials, for example, by
requiring that they be registered.
The registration of new, dangerous, toxic or hazardous chemical
substances is a necessary part of official efforts to protect the
environment, Gao Yingxin, director of the State Environmental
Protection Administration's (SEPA) Chemical Registration Center,
said at a recent workshop.
Gao said registration would help the public understand that
chemical substances could pose a threat to public safety, and help
the environmental watchdog ensure that such materials are handled
properly.
Citing the complexity of the process, Gao suggested that
enterprises hire professional agencies to help them register
chemicals.
Despite such measures, the possibility of an environmental
catastrophe occurring at one of the country's chemical factories
remains high.
The country's major waterways have been severely polluted by
factories built along their banks, a source from SEPA said. A
review of 127 major chemical and petrochemical projects found that
many were located too close to major bodies of water.
Inspections of existing chemical facilities, prompted by an
explosion in November 2005 that released tons of toxic chemicals in
the Songhua River, found 20 with serious environmental safety
problems.
(China Daily January 29, 2007)