Heavy rain forecast for Monday and Tuesday in Fuping County, north China's Hebei Province, is threatening to hinder clean-up efforts in the Dasha River, which was contaminated by 60 tons of coal tar spilt from a truck that overturned last week. 

Although the water quality has improved, the soup-like density of the pollutant is twice that of water. The local government has set up six monitoring stations along a 50-kilometer stretch of the waterway, and the station furthest down river from the spillage has not detected pollution.

The authorities are getting more vehicles to assist with the clean-up operation before the rain arrives. Additional emergency plans are also being drafted.

Up until last Saturday morning contaminated sludge had been found in a section of the Dasha River 23.5 km downstream from Fuping.

A truck carrying 80 tons of coal tar overturned at 5 PM on June 12 and spilt its load into the river in Fanzhi County, Shanxi Province, which is 80 km from Fuping.

To prevent the liquid from entering the Wangkuai Reservoir in Fuping, the local government has built 53 dams to intercept the spill and excavated over 500 pools to hold and divert the contaminated water. By Sunday afternoon 3,650 tons of the contaminated water had been pumped away. 

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2006)