Sungari waters with possible contamination are already on Russian territory

Yesterday, water from the Chinese Songhua River, into which more than 7.1 thousand barrels of chemicals fell a week ago, approached the Russian border. As Kommersant was told yesterday by the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Khabarovsk Territory, water is expected to reach Khabarovsk on August 13–14. So far, water samples taken on both the Chinese and Russian sides have not recorded any deviations from the norm, but the Ministry of Emergency Situations does not rule out the possibility that a couple of barrels missed by Chinese rescuers may float to Khabarovsk. The Gorvodokanal is ready for the most pessimistic development of the situation with possible pollution of Amur water - a temporary shutdown of the Khabarovsk water intake.

According to calculations by specialists from the Far Eastern Hydrometeorological Center, yesterday the water from the accident site approached the mouth of the Sungari - and therefore entered Russian territory. The day before, control background samples were taken near the village of Nizhneleninskoye, closest to the mouth of the Songhua, which will then be used for comparison with subsequent results. As Kommersant was told by the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Khabarovsk Territory, yesterday the first water samples from Russian territory arrived at the Khabarovsk laboratory, and the results of the study should become known today.

“Since August 4, specialists from the Far Eastern Department of the Hydrometeorological Service GIMS of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation additionally organized the collection and analysis of samples in the area of the Amur Channel. One sample was taken over the past 24 hours,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations clarified. However, from today, samples will be taken twice as often. Experts do not expect severe pollution of the river. However, MUP Vodokanal has prepared reservoirs to create the necessary water supply in case of a temporary shutdown of the water intake. According to updated data, on August 10–11, water from the Sungari will flow into the Amur, and will reach Khabarovsk approximately on August 14–15.

“Additional control points for sampling have already been determined by specialists from Roshydromet and Rospotrebnadzor - the village of Nizhneleninskoye, in the Vladimirovka region, the village of Petrovskoye. Now two points have been deployed, about four are planned to be deployed in total,” Ekaterina Potvorova, an employee of the press service of the Far Eastern and Radiological Center of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, told Kommersant yesterday. In addition, Vodokanal employees continue to take water samples daily. “Based on the results of sampling, the composition of the water in terms of microbiological and basic physical and chemical indicators complies with the standards,” the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported yesterday.

Let us recall that at the end of July, as a result of a flood, more than 7 thousand containers with dangerous chemical compounds entered the Songhua from one of the Chinese chemical plants in Jilin. Provincial authorities claimed that 4,000 of them were empty, the rest had no leaks, but several dozen barrels exploded in the Songhua. During an operation involving the Chinese military, almost all the barrels were caught from the river before they reached the Russian border. The highly toxic explosive chemical contained in the barrels—trimethylchlorosilane—when combined with water, forms a non-toxic compound and hydrochloric acid, which, as the Ministry of Emergency Situations says, is not dangerous for the Amur waters. “Hydrochloric acid decomposes in water, forming non-toxic substances. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the volume of its dilution with water,” Mrs. Potvorova clarified yesterday to Kommersant.

As the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported yesterday, since August 9, observation posts have also been deployed on the Amur in the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Okrug - in the villages of Nizhneleninskoye, Nizhnespasskoye, Petrovskoye. Rescuers from the Far Eastern search and rescue team of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are visually monitoring the state of the water “for changes.” “We don’t expect stains - as you know, hydrochloric acid does not form stains. But just in case, monitoring is carried out. The possibility of barrels coming is not excluded, but it is probable. We do not rule out that two, three, four or five barrels may still arrive,” stated the FERC of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Evgenia Sycheva

Load chemicals in rivers