July 20, 2010

Waste spill threatens more China fisheries

Acidic waste leaking from Zijin Mining Group Co.'s biggest copper plant is threatening more fisheries in the Ting River as it spreads to another Chinese province in Fujian.

The Fujian environmental agency is posting daily reports to Guangdong regarding the water quality after the province informed it of elevated copper content in the river, an official said today, July 20.

Zijin Mining tumbled 17% in Hong Kong trading last week after saying July 12 that 2.4 million gallons of acidic copper waste spilled from its Zijinshan mine, poisoning enough fish to feed 72,000 residents for a year. Police detained three Zijin managers, and the securities regulator is probing the company over its disclosure of the incident.

Heng Kun, an analyst at Essence Securities Co, said, "The Ting River runs into Guangdong, and it isn't a surprise that the toxic spill would spread there. The concern is how much the government fine will be and when the contamination scandal for Zijin will come to an end."

China has faced a series of health and environmental standard failures, with melamine-tainted milk and waste from smelters killing children. An explosion on July 16 in the northeastern city of Dalian led to an oil spill covering more than 60 square kilometres (23 square miles). "It may take five days to clear the spill," the Dalian municipal government said.

The July 3 spill came after the same mine was cited for excess waste discharge last September, a problem Zijin didn't fix, the Shanghang county government said July 15. Zijin initially blamed heavy rains for the leak near Shanghang, where about half a million people live.

"There was another leak on the 16th, with 500 cubic metres of waste water discharged," the company said.