Society

Untreated sewage blamed for fish deaths in E China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-20 14:51

NANJING - Untreated sewage that ended up in a nearby river following the shutdown of a water treatment plant was blamed for the deaths of thousands of fish in east China's Jiangsu Province, the local government there said Wednesday.

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Thousands of dead fish were found floating in sections of the Waiqinhuai River in the province's capital city of Nanjing over the past two days, a spokesman with the city government said.

The results of tests and monitoring by the city's environment bureau showed that the mass fish deaths might be related to the recent shutdown of a sewage treatment plant, he said.

The treatment plant, which processed about 100,000 tonnes of sewage daily, ceased operations last Thursday to repair its drainage sump.

A temperature surge over the past few days exacerbated the situation, the spokesman said.

The city government has been channelling more water into the upper reaches of the river to dilute the untreated sewage. The sewage plant is expected to resume operations this week, the spokesman said.