1.0Introduction

2.0What is Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion

3.0Place of Occurrence of Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion

Jilin Chemical Plant explosion was a series of explosions that occurred at the Number 101 Petrochemical Plant in Jilin City, located in Jilin City Province China. The No. 101 Jilin Chemical plant was located in Jilin City in Jilin Province, China, around 380 kilometers up river from Harbin City (the Capital of Heilongjiang province and the tenth largest city in China). The plant was located next to the Songhua River, which is the main water source for much of northeastern China, including Jilin and Harbin. The Songhua River eventually runs into the Amur River which flows through southern Russia.

Figure 1: Jilin Province map

The Jilin Chemical Plant itself was the first major, large scale chemical industry base to be built in China, producing chemicals such as benzene, nitrobenzene, and aniline; which are often used in the production of different plastics.

4.0The Date/Time of Occurrence of Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion

The Jilin chemical plant explosions occurred on November 13, 2005, in the No.101 Petrochemical Plant in Jilin City, Jilin Province, China, over the period of an hour. The chemical plants explosions occurred for over an hour and affected hundreds of thousands of people throughout the Jilin province and the rest of Asia. According to Rolf Liefeld (2005) the explosion occurred at 1.45 p.m. on November 13, 2005.

5.0Who were affected by Jilin Chemical Plant Explosions?

The explosion of Jilin chemical plant in China on November 13, 2005 had killed 6 workers, injured dozen and cause evacuation of 10,000 residents. The No. 101 chemical plant is located next to Songhua River, which is the main water source for northeastern China including Jilin and Harbin.

The evacuation:After the explosion, there are massive amounts of yellow and dark smoke filled the sky along Jilin City. About 30,000 residents evacuate from the city along with 12,000 university student and 5000 students from Jilin Petrochemical Collage. The chaos becomes worse as the police blocked off the city streets for emergency vehicles. Thus, large amounts of the old and sick resident were left behind. Eventually, more than 10,000 residents had to be evacuated by the Chinese Government.

Water pollution:Around 100 tons of pollutants flowed into the Songhua River that cause 4.0 million people in Jilin and Harbin City were left without a stable water source. These chemicals include benzene and nitrobenzene were considered extremely dangerous to the people especially benzene which is carcinogenic chemicals. The toxic slick passed through Jilin City and to the several small cities before making its way into Heilongjiang City. After that, the toxic made its way into the Amur River at the mouth of the Songhua River, between the China and Russia border.

Jilin province:November 13, Jilin city water plant was closed and most of the hydroelectric plant released extra water in attempt to dilute the chemicals in the water. November 15, Jilin City stopped using water from Songhua River and by November 23, water supply in Jilin eventually restored.

Heilongjiang province:The capital city of Heilongjiang province, Harbin city, also affected by the chemical leak. November 24, the polluted water reached Harbin with nitrobenzene levels 16 times higher than the national safety level. Because of that, 15 local hospitals were also put on alert for possible victims of poisoning from the water. The entire residents in Harbin were left without a drinkable water source.

Russia:December 16, the chemical slick reached Russia. The only city that affected by this chemicals is city of Khabarovsk with population around 600,000. Luckily, the slick becomes significantly diluted as its reached Russia with toxic level within expected range. However, Russia government already prepared for the chemical slick as the dug wells and instructs the residents to stack up on water supply.

6.0Why Did Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion Occur: Causes/Factors

In the Jilin Petrochemical Plant incident, the cause of the blasts was initially determined: T-102 tower jammed up but was not handled properly. The explosion had occurred as a result of chemical blockage and improper treatment to the problem. The existing monitoring system did not operate properly during the abnormal situation and corrective actions were not taken because the company had no emergency preparedness program. The explosion in the Jilin chemical plant released highly toxic substances, killing at least five people and forcing the evacuation of more than 10,000 nearby residents (Fu, 2008). It also contaminated the Songhua River with benzene and nitrobenzene. The contamination plume subsequently moved downstream towards the Russian border. Pollution threatened the water supply and left three million people In Harbin with no water (Fu, 2008). As seen in this incident, the emergency response plan for large spills was not available. The existing monitoring system did not work properly to ensure that critical information was available to all pertinent response officials downstream of the river and prevented the officials from initiating appropriate response measures.On the other hand, according to the top official from China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the explosions in Northeast Chinas Jilin Province on Sunday were caused by a blockage in a chemical plants processing tower and a workers botched attempt to clear it. The channel of one nitration tower of the benzene production branch got blocked at noon. A worker then bungled an attempt to unblock it. The company gave no further explanation, according to Zou Haifeng, vice-general manager of Jilin Petrochemical Company of CNPC.As conclusion, the explosion was caused by a clog in a processing tower part of the benzene sector. The clog itself did not cause the explosion. The carelessness of one of the workers trying to unclog it did while the existing monitoring system did not operate properly during the abnormal situation.

7.0 The Effects of the Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion and Songhua River Pollution Incident, China

After explosion happened at Jilin Chemical Plant, it severely polluted the Songhua River with an estimated 100 tons of pollutants that containing benzene ad nitrobenzene into the river. There are several impacts that occur around the explosion area such as environmental impacts and health impacts.Environmental ImpactsThe impacts are like oil spill, surface water pollution, decreasing water quality, air pollution, fires, noise pollution, soil contamination, and lastly groundwater pollution or depletion. The potential effect are most likely biodiversity loss such wildlife or agro-diversity. The longer term environmental consequences of the spill are unknown. Environmental and other groups have suggested that the food chain in the river basin and corresponding region could be affected for some time. The Times reported on December 21, 2005 that fishing in the area could be banned for as long four years. Other articles have suggested that benzene contamination could present a long term problem in that it cans bioaccumulation in the basins organism and remain trapped in the river ice that will melt and resulted in additional releases and became trapped in the rivers sediments Health ImpactsBenzene is a colorless cancer-causing liquid that has strong toxicity before burning. But right after burning, benzene is harmless to human since it breaks down in carbon dioxide and water. The exposure to benzene for human it will reduces ours white blood cell count and is linked to leukemia. Due to explosion, five persons were confirmed dead and one is missing. Nearly 70 people were wounded. Among the wounded, two were in serious condition and 21 with minor injuries are still in hospital.

8.0Prevention from the Explosion of Jilin Chemical Plant

After the explosion was occurred, all channels and equipment connecting to the plant have been shut down to ensure the security. There is no toxic gas was detected in the affected district. Over 10,000 people were evacuated from the area, including local residents and students at the north campus of Beihua University and Jilin Institute of Chemical Technology, for fear of further explosions and contamination with harmful chemicals. The municipal government asked hotels and restaurants in the city to provide rooms for the evacuated people. All the water supplies in Songyuan, Jilin were partially suspended due to contamination of water. In response to the crisis, trucks transported tens of thousands of metric tons of water from surrounding cities and thousands of tons activated carbon from all over the country to effected area.Other than that, explosion prevention is a must things that we want to avoid. There are several things that we need to look such as:1. Pay attention to earthlingA frequent process-bound source of ignition is static electricity. This problem can be prevented by proper earthling. In fixed installations, it is important not only to install proper earthling, but also to inspect the installations regularly.2. Stop the sparksMoving parts that touch each other can also be sources of ignition. They can cause hot surfaces or sparks. The safest way to prevent this is to limit the speed of moving parts. It should also make sure that they dont touch each other. Apply sufficient tolerances and build in safety measures. If there still is an enhanced risk of rubbing, you should use temperature detection to keep everything under control.3. Protect your peopleUnfortunately, many of the accidents are caused by human failure, as a result of ignorance. One of the ways is keep them safe with protective clothing such as helmets that can be combined with several kinds of clothing. We can use a special hand protection, which can be used in combination with diverse tools. Cool suits that enable you to wear your tight protective during a longer period of time. Lastly, use underclothing that protects against biological and chemical threats.

Since the explosion of Jilin Chemical Plant is dust explosion, there are following guidelines from Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) that we can help prevent dust explosions:1. Know that most dust is combustible.2. Provide access to all hidden areas of your plant.3. Regularly inspect for dust build-up.4. Clean at regular intervals5. Move dust collectors outside6. Ensure electrical wiring and equipment is approved for use in your hazard conditions7. Use only vacuum cleaners approved for dust collections in hazard conditions8. Control ignition sources9. Perform regular preventative maintenance on equipment10. Train employees to recognize and prevent hazards.

9.0ConclusionNovember 13th explosion released into the river about 100 tons of benzene, which is highly toxic and carcinogenic. High level exposure to benzene is known to cause leukaemia, and there are concerns that the same effects could result from long term low-level exposure through water of food. State media reported that five people were killed in the explosion and only few hundred meters from the river bank. Up to 10,000 people were temporarily evacuated because of the accident that damage lots of property in that area. Even though, the explosion affected Chinas Songhua River that reached until the neighbouring Russia. Chinese leaders have shown keen concern over the incident by ordered the environmental department and regional governments to take effective measure to guarantee the safety of potable water, beefing up monitoring work and providing accurate information. Water supplies and active carbon used to purify water are being shipped continuously to the affected area.After the incident, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is ready to assist the Chinese authorities further in relation to both the current spill and with measures to reduce the risk of similar incident in the future. The report also says an established joint monitoring programme between China and Russia, calling it as an encouraging step in further multilateral cooperation on shared water resources.

10.0References

1) Chen, J., Wang, J., & Cui, X. (2010, October). Explosions, Corruption and Floods: How China's Chemical Plants Become a National Danger. News China. Retrieved April 4, 2015, from http://www.newschinamag.com/magazine/explosions-corruption-and-floods-how-chinas-chemical-plants-became-a-nation2) Fu, W., Fu, H., Skott, K. and Yang, M. (2008). Modelling the spill in the Songhua River after the explosion in the petrochemical plant in Jilin, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 15(3): 178181.3) Rolf Liefeld (2005), The China Environment Yearbook, Volume 1 (2005)", p. 19 4) Yong, W., & Na, H. (2005, November 15). Cause of Jilin Chemical Plant Blasts Found. China Daily. Retrieved April 4, 2015, from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-11/15/content_494601.htm5) 100 Tonnes of Pollutants Spilled into Chinese River. Retrieved April 5, 2015 fromhttp://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/nov/25/china.internationalnews6) 2005 Jilin Chemical Plant Explosion. Retrieved April 5, 2015 from http://disasteropedia.wikispaces.com/2005+Jilin+chemical+plant+explosions

11.0Appendices

The explosion at Jilin chemical plant on November 13, 2005

The effect of the explosion. Shattered window that were at least 100-200 meter away from the chemical plant

Lack of water source to Jilin and Harbin people

Barrels of toxic float down the Songhua River

Affected building because of the explosion

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