Chemical spill 'hasn't polluted sea'
Initial tests suggest sea water around Yuen Long is unlikely to be affected by a chemical spill from a tanker in a street at the weekend, officials said yesterday.
A tanker carrying 22 tonnes of styrene overturned in Fuk Hi Street, Yuen Long, on Saturday after failing to make a turn. Fifteen tonnes leaked from the vehicle but most flowed into drains.
There were fears the styrene - chemicals used to make plastics - might have reached the sea.
'The test results of water samples collected this morning confirmed the water in the vicinity contained only a trace amount of the chemical,' a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said yesterday.
The statement came as dead fish were found at Deep Bay.
'[The water] didn't look polluted,' said Wong Chi-hung, a Drainage Services Department official. 'I saw lots of ducks and birds in the water.' The chemicals would have been diluted in the stormwater drains before reaching Deep Bay. The fish might have died from other causes. Styrene was soluble and evaporated quickly, he said.
Samples were taken from the sea in the area on Saturday and yesterday for more detailed tests.
