The pollution stretch has been detected near Dalianhe Town of Yilan County, though its tail remains in Xindian Town of Binxian County, according to the latest news release from Heilongjiang Provincial Environment Protection Bureau Friday.

China and Russia have started a joint monitoring project at Mulan Post of Mulan County Friday and the two sides will also jointly monitor the pollution in Tongjiang River, the intersection of the Songhua and Heilongjiang rivers, called Amur River in Russia, said China's environmental watchdog.

China donated a set of gas chromatographic detectors to Russian experts who were visiting Heilongjiang Province Thursday night.

The peak of the 150-km-long pollution belt is lingering around Tonghe Post. As of 2 a.m. Friday, the nitrobenzene pollution density at the post had reached 0.3169 mg/L, 17.64 times above thenational safety level.

The stretch is expected to reach the Dalianhe Town of Yilan County at 2:00 a.m. Saturday and will arrive at Jaimusi, the second largest city at Songhua River's lower reach on December 6.

The government of Yilan County has shut down all the water gathering channels from the Songhua River and is managing strict polluted water disposal systems in the large enterprises which still must use water from the polluted river.

The county government asked all the residents of the Dalianhe Town to store water for five to seven days to brace for the possibility that the water supply may be cut off when the pollution belt arrives.
 
(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2005)