Gansu tap water contamination blamed on oil pipeline leak
Cause of contamination that forced millions to turn off their taps traced to CNPC subsidiary's pipeline leaking industrial chemical benzene
The contamination of drinking water in Lanzhou, Gansu province, was caused by a pipeline leak involving a subsidiary of China's largest oil company, state media said.
City officials on Friday warned Lanzhou's more than three million residents not to drink tap water after tests revealed benzene levels that far exceeded national limits.
The sole water supplier for the city's downtown is Veolia Water, a Sino-French joint venture.
Residents queued to buy boxes of bottled water or brought buckets, bottles and even tea kettles to stations where fresh water was being distributed by hoses.
Xinhua yesterday reported that soil along a duct between two of Veolia's water works had been contaminated by crude oil leaking from a buried pipeline of Lanzhou Petrochemical, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.
The investigation result was revealed by the chief of the city's environmental protection bureau, Yan Zijiang, during a videoconference with the municipal government, Xinhua said.