A subsidiary of China’s largest oil company, CNPC, is being blamed for a leak that has contaminated potable water in the city of Lanzhou, affecting 2.4 million people and causing a rush for bottled water.
The city’s water is managed and supplied by Veolia Water, whose testing showed elevated levels of benzene of 200µg/litre last Friday, far in excess of the 50µg/litre national limit. Investigations discovered a crude oil leak from an oil pipeline into a channel carrying water to Veolia’s No 1 and No 2 water treatment plants.
Local press report that repairs to the oil pipeline are under way – residents of the city were told not to drink the water for 24 hours, and benzene levels at the majority of monitoring sites were confirmed safe by early on Saturday. The filtration systems at the treatment works were also flushed repeatedly to remove the pollution.