January 2006 Edition
No free lunch in environmental issues
The terrible environmental
tragedies in North China have
now threatened drinking water
sources in both China and
Russia. Not one, but two serious spills
occurred within weeks on the Songhua
River. Exacerbating the situation was
the fact that Chinese authorities, at
first, were in a state of denial which
compromised prompt remedial action
and posed serious threats to downstream
communities such as Harbin,
one of China’s largest cities. City
authorities initially switched off water
supplies for ‘maintenance purposes’.
See Tom's full commentary
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