PX project leads to fresh public worry

Public questioning over the safety of paraxylene (PX) projects lingers, after an explosion ripped through a soon-to-be-opened PX project Tuesday in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province.

Local authorities said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday that the explosion occurred at 4:35 am, when an unused pipeline cracked as hydrogen was used for pressure tests at Zhangzhou-based Tenglong Aromatic Hydrocarbon Co on Gulei Peninsula in the city.

No dead or injured have been reported and there is no leakage of the chemical, the city government said.

They also confirmed that the fire was put out immediately and no air or water pollution was detected.

However, the explosion damaged some pipelines and broke windows in a nearby village.

Paraxylene is a carcinogenic petrochemical that has triggered a series of public protests against the potential damage it could cause to health and the environment.

Hours before the accident, the People's Daily published an article in which Li Junfa, chief engineer of the China National Petroleum and Chemical Planning Institute, guaranteed the safety of PX projects.

"Major PX projects worldwide have never reported any accidents over the past several decades and the facilities in China have been functioning well ever since the first one was established in Shanghai 28 years ago," Li said.

The Zhangzhou project was relocated from the neighboring coastal city of Xiamen in late 2007 following mass demonstrations.

An environmental assessment in 2007 was another factor in the relocation of the PX project, which was scheduled to be based some 10 kilometers from downtown Xiamen.

"This project got rejected elsewhere, yet it was accepted here. We already gave away our land to the plant, and now it threatens our lives," an unnamed local resident in Zhangzhou told the Global Times, urging authorities to strengthen security inspections.

The resident said this explosion has already proved the expert's guarantee wrong by revealing the poor safety record of such projects.