Officials responsible for a chemical plant blast last year that killed eight and caused a toxic spill that poisoned water supplies for millions of people in northeastern China are to face severe penalties, the central government has warned.

 

Chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, the State Council on Wednesday heard the results of the investigation into the incident and approved "severe" administrative and Communist Party disciplinary punishments of officials of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and environmental officials of Jilin Province.

 

But the government statement provided to Xinhua late on Wednesday did not name any of those to be punished or give details of the penalties.

 

The explosion at the CNPC chemical plant in the northeastern province of Jilin on Nov. 13 last year sent around 100 tons of pollutants containing hazardous benzene spilling into the Songhua River. Sixty people were injured in the incident.

 

It forced cities along the river, including Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province with a population of more than three million, to temporarily suspend water supplies.

 

Xie Zhenhua, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), the head of the country's environmental watchdog, resigned in December last year in response to the incident.

 

On Wednesday, the cabinet ordered work safety officials to stay on high alert as industrial accidents normally peaked in late winter and early spring.

 

The cabinet also ordered enhanced monitoring of hazardous chemicals and promised severe punishments for those responsible for industrial accidents.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2006)