China oil spill threatens water supplies

Last Updated: Mon, 4 Jan 2010 02:50:00 +1100

There are reports that more than 700 people are battling to prevent around 150,000 litres of diesel oil which spilled into a Chinese river from reaching a major water source for millions of people, the Yellow River, 70 kilometres away.

China's official Xinhua news agency reports the leak is from a pipeline owned by China National Petroleum Corporation in northwestern Shaanxi province.

The company immediately closed the pipeline when the accident happened, the report added, but not before some of the diesel ended up in a river that is a tributary of the Yellow River.

Xinhua reports diesel has been detected in the water 33 kilometres from the leak, with residents warned against using any of the river water.