Introduction and Overview

                                             

OVERVIEW

On November 13, 2005 in Jilin Province, China, an explosion occurred at a petrochemical plant belonging to the Jilin Petrochemical Corporation. The explosions happened within a time span of an hour and was caused by a blockage in the plant's processing tower. The failed attempt of a worker to clear the blockage eventually led to the explosions taking place, and the following events resulted in five people being killed, dozens being injured, and over 10,000 being evacuated. Approximately 100 tons of toxic chemicals (a mixture of benzene, aniline, and nitrobenzene) were released into the Songhua River, and the chemical slick made its way up the river before eventually flowing into Russia. The polluting of the Songhua River, which was a main water source for many cities, had disastrous chain effects, leading to the eventual shutting off of water in major cities.

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WATER CONTAMINATION

The explosions led to a spill of an estimated 100 tons of toxic substances being released into the Songhua River, the largest tributary of the Heilong River. The mixture was a combination of benzene, aniline, and nitrobenzene, which are used to produce certain plastics. Some cities along the river are Jilin, Harbin, and Jiamusi, and the contamination of the water led to the water shutdown for days in the major city of Harbin. People could not shower, but could cook and consume bottled water. The government shipped in emergency supplies of bottled water, and in some cases used fire trucks to supply water to local towns.  Over a period of several weeks, the pollution slick ended up flowing into Russia as well, where the Heilong River is better known as the Amur River.

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING NEWS COVERAGE

Chinese officials initially stated to the press that no pollutants had entered the Songhua River due to the explosion. For five days, factory officials were able to contain and manage the spill themselves without notifying Beijing officials, taking extreme measures such as draining reservoir water into the Songhua in an attempt to dilute the pollutants and claiming that the reason for water shut-off in the major city of Harbin was due to infrastructure repair. It was only until two weeks later when the pollution slick reached Harbin itself that officials felt they could not manage the disaster themselves any longer. The press quickly picked up information regarding the spill, and Chinese authorities were criticized for a lack of transparency with the general public regarding the disaster. International media and environmental protection groups became closely involved with the investigation, implicating high-ranking officials and tracing the chain of responsibility back to the Chinese government. 

Current State of the River

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While the river was definitely affected in the short-term by the explosions, the long-term consequences of the spill are unknown. While there were many immediate effects to the ecosystem when the explosions initially took place, the river has returned to its previous state. There are no long-term effects of the pollution from 2005 due to the high amount of carbon in the river's sediment, and the region's groundwater has not been effected. The river today is as healthy as it was before the explosions. However, the transboundary incident caused by the Jilin explosions gained this incident international attention, and the flaws of China's environmental regulations have been exposed. The attention cast towards this flaw has influenced China to better protect the environment and the ecosystems that they encompass.

IMPORTANT BIOTIC FACTORS

• fish 
• plants 
• land animals (dhole, salamander)
• birds (red-crowned crane)
• insects (earthworm, millipede)

IMPORTANT ABIOTIC FACTORS

• climate
• amount of sunlight
• temperature
• windspeed
• pH
• salinity
• purity of river

Effect on 3 Ecologic Concepts

FOOD WEB

The Jilin chemical plant explosions released many types of toxic chemicals into the Songhua River. There is no specific data, but ecologists claim that it is very likely that the toxic chemicals harmed the fish population in the river. Above a simple food web of the species living near the Songhua River. The decreased population of the fish in the river affects other organisms who prey on fish due to the chain reaction.

POPULATION SIZES

The only four factors that can determine the population sizes are birthrate, death rate, emigration, and immigration. The chemicals released in the Songhua river decreased the fish population, and there is a high possibility of fish population emigrating to different rivers. Emigration of fish in the river will decrease the fish population in the Songhua river, thus decreasing the population of species those prey on fish such as mandarin ducks, and red-crowned cranes, and increasing the population of species which are consumed by fish, such as long-tailed clawed salamander and millipedes.

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WATER CYCLE

Similar to the food web, every stage of the water cycle impacts the whole system. The pollution of the Songhua river affects the whole water cycle, since water from oceans and rivers are evaporated into the clouds. Once the polluted water from the Songhua river is evaporated, the water vapors go through condensation and form water droplets in the clouds. When the clouds get in contact with cool air, they release the water back down either through rain, snow, or sleet. Since the water from the river was initially polluted, there is a high chance of pollutant in rain, snow, or sleet. When the water goes back to the ground, it affects the animals and plants that rely on water.

Conclusion

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There are two main outcomes of this disaster, one of which is negative and the other of which is positive. The negative impact of the pollution of the Songhua River is the damage it's done to the ecosystem. Not only is prolonged exposure to benzene linked to low white blood cell count and leukemia in humans, but it also severely destroys communities and organisms in the river. One of the environmental impacts of the explosions was the decrease in river water quality that it led to. The decrease in water quality led to a commensurate decrease in the amount of fish in the river. The decrease in number of fish then led to a decrease in the crane population, who depended on those small fish for nutrients. Furthermore, the decrease in water quality also proved to be a limiting factor, for it affected the number of organisms able to survive under such extreme conditions, reducing the overall number or organisms in the Songhua River.

However, there is a positive side to this disaster as well. The international attention gained by the chemical slick flowing into Russia has cast a spotlight on the flaws in China's environmental protection policies. Flaws were revealed in the enforcement of local environmental laws, poor communication between state agencies and government officials, and poor emergency response. As a result, there have been revisions in China's Water Pollution Control Act and they have hosted an extensive legal enforcement campaign in the spring following the explosions. These measures were taken with the hope of preventing such an accident from happening again.

Seeing as the chemicals that flowed into the river did not have extreme long-term effects, our personal position is that the explosions were in a way beneficial. The mass panic, chaos, and inconvenience caused by the Harbin water shut-off has proven to help provide evidence for the importance of caring for the environment. As a result of this accident, laws have been rewritten, policies re-thought, and the public now more educated about the importance of preserving the ecosystem.