A Chinese environment official has denied a toxic discharge into
a northeastern river last month was linked to an outbreak of
meningitis in neighboring Russia.
A post on China's State Environmental Protection
Administration's website quoted an anonymous official as saying the
"meningitis in Russia's border region Khabarovsk has no links with
the Songhua River pollution".
On August 21, illegally-discharged pollutants from the
Changbaishan Jingxi Chemical Co. in the Mangniu River, a tributary
of Songhua River, flowed across China's northern border into
Russia, into the Amur River potentially contaminating Khabarovsk
City's water supply. Media reports claim that Russian officials
have pointed the finger at the water fouling for a meningitis
outbreak in Khabarovsk.?
Pollutants discharged in the incident could not cause humans to
contract the meningitis virus as the poisonous substance was not
conducive to virus reproduction, said the Chinese official.
Chinese and Russian environment experts jointly surveyed
sections of Songhuajiang River and Heilongjiang River from
September 1 to 8 and no particular pollutants were found.
(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2006)