Officials in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province say they are fully prepared for the forthcoming toxic slick which was expected to arrive today.

"We can ensure the sufficient safe water supply, even if the slick arrives," said Zhang Bangsheng, vice-mayor of the city, which has an urban population of 550,000.

The city mainly relies on underground water as its drinking water source, so it would be little affected, he said.

The slick follows an explosion at a chemical plant in the northeastern city of Jilin, which poured benzene compounds into the Songhua River last month.

Jiamusi's No 7 Water Plant, which provides about 70 percent of the water supply of the city, has stopped drawing water from the wells that are near the river bank because of concern over possible water infiltration when the slick passes.

The city has already activated its back-up water source on the northern bank of the river, which can supply 100,000 tons of water daily, said Dong Kun, the government spokeswoman.

"We have enough water to cope with the crisis," she said.

She admitted, however, that for some of the water-guzzling enterprises within city, a temporary suspension or production reduction is possible.

The city's Sairui Suger Plant, which uses river water to wash beets, is now drilling more deep wells to ensure normal production, she said.

By 2 PM yesterday, the front of the slick was at Hongkeli Town, 323 kilometres from Sanjiangkou, where the Songhua River meets Heilong River. No traces of benzene or nitrobenzene were found at Dalau check station, 54 kilometres up from the urban area of Jiamusi.

The city has postponed or cancelled its annual snow-spraying festival, which is held each year at this time, said Dong.

Businesses, along with most residents, have remained calm ahead of the slick's arrival.

Li Fuze, owner of a local restaurant, said that his business was little affected. "We all know it is coming but don't know when," he said.

Heavy snow within the province over the last two days has added more difficulties in extracting water samples from the Songhua River as large parts are frozen.

People could be seen walking across the snow-covered ice surface of the river to the Liushu Island yesterday in the Jiamusi section of Songhua River.

In Dalianhe town of Yilan County, though the slick was still passing, more than 5,000 students and 300 teachers returned to school yesterday, after a four-day closure, Xinhua reported.

The nitrobezene level was still about 10 times the standard level in the checking station in the town.

To ensure the sufficient water supply of the students, Yilan County had ordered water tanks to supply five tons of water to them yesterday.

(China Daily December 6, 2005)