Associated Press
June 18, 2006

Chinese authorities said a toxic coal tar spill flowing down a northern river had slowed as they rushed to stop it from reaching a reservoir that serves a city of 10 million and is a standby source for the 2008 Olympics.

Beijing: Chinese authorities said a toxic coal tar spill flowing down a northern river had slowed as they rushed Sunday to stop it from reaching a reservoir that serves a city of 10 million and is a standby source for the 2008 Olympics. Dams, pumps and cotton quilts helped slow the sludge’s flow so that it traveled just one mile down the Dasha River over the past two days, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Cleanup work was stepped up as government leaders urged local residents and officials to deal aggressively with the latest mishap to damage the country’s heavily polluted waterways. The spill occurred when a truck overloaded with 80 tons of toxic coal tar fell into the Dasha River last Monday, leaking some of its contents into the river