WHEN one world superpower, apologises publicly to another, you know something awful is afoot. This weekend, the Russian city of Khabarovsk, 600 kilometres north of Vladivostok, is bracing itself for a disaster that started three weeks ago in China.
Earlier this week, Khabarovsk authorities got a consignment of around 50 tonnes of activated carbon, which they hope is enough to mop up the toxic slick heading their way down the Songhua river. The huge spill formed when an explosion at a Chinese chemical plant on 13 November released 100 tonnes of benzene and nitrobenzene into the river.
Prolonged exposure to…
