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Macao's water supply remains safe after chemical plant blast in S China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-27 20:15

MACAO - Tuesday's explosion at a chemical plant in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region did not affect the quality of water supply to Macao Special Administration Region (SAR), the SAR's Port authority said in a press statement released on Wednesday.

The fatal explosion occurred at Yizhou, a city of Guangxi, which is 700 km away from Macao, and the chemicals spilled from the plant might contaminate the Longjiang River, a tributary of Xijiang River, which was 15 km from the spot where Macao draws its water, according to the statement.

The pollutants mainly comprised highly volatile and degradable organic matters. "The accident dose not very much affect the water supply to Macao and Zhuhai (a city of China's Guangdong province), " the Port Authority said in the statement.

Explosion ripped through an organic compound workshop inside the plant, owned by Guangxi Guangwei Chemical Co., at 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday, which led to further explosions in containers storing flammable substances such as formaldehyde, acetylene.

The Port Authority said that the SAR government has been closely monitoring the quality of Macao's water supply, and the Authority and Macao Water, which monopolizes local water supply, will establish a well-knit notification system with relevant departments in the Chinese mainland, forming an emergency response plan, in a bid to secure Macao's water supply.