Monday, August 8, 2011

Storm threatens sea dyke near China chemical plant

Reuters: A storm battering the northeast Chinese coast Monday whipped up waves that threatened a dyke protecting a chemical plant, forcing residents to flee while soldiers and firefighters rushed to fill the breach, news media said.

The waves slamming the coast near the port city of Dalian in Liaoning province were brought by tropical storm Muifa as it skated off the coast, hitting a half-built dyke protecting the Jinzhou development zone, official news agency Xinhua reported.

Behind a growing hole in the protective wall is a storage area containing around 20 metal tanks holding oil-based chemicals at the Fujia industrial chemical plant, said the website of the People's Daily newspaper (www.people.com.cn).

"If the breach cannot be blocked up, toxic chemical products may spill, and that would be extremely dangerous," the newspaper website reported from Dalian. A Chinese television report said the threat was "under control."...

Severe Tropical Storm Muifa, over China, on August 7, 2011

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