(Ecns.cn)—Authorities of Zhenjiang city in East China's Jiangsu Province confirmed on Wednesday that local running water company had officially filed a lawsuit against a South Korean ship that spilled phenol into a local river, contaminating the drinking water, according to a report from Xinhua news agency.
Information released by the local emergency management office indicated that phenol levels present in water samples collected on February 3 were excessive. Later on, some citizens in Zhenjiang complained of discovering dead fish and a stink rising from the water when cooking or brushing teeth.
Further tests were conducted on chemical factories along the river, and the source of the pollution was confirmed as being discharge from the pipe of the South Korea ship, Gloria.
The ship in question was detained where it was docked in Nantong on February 10, and bail was set at 20.6 million yuan ($3.3 million), said Bu Xiaofang, a spokesman for the Zhenjiang government.
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