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Market flooded by wave of river sludge

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-20 13:19

A wave of fetid river sludge flooded 200 shops in a food wholesale market and other businesses in Shanghai's Baoshan District yesterday and damaged a large amount of goods.

More than 1,000 cubic meters of silt, the waste product from a river dredging operation, rose as high as 30 centimeters in some spots at the market on Zhenda Road in Dachang Town around 10:45am. Cleanup work continued last night.

The silt was being stored behind a wall at a former marble factory. Portions of the wall, which is about 50 meters long and 2 meters high, apparently collapsed from the weight of the sludge, and a wave of black water and silt flooded the market, restaurants and vehicle repair shops on the other side of the road.

"I thought it might be poisonous at first, as it smelled bad," said the owner of a nearby restaurant surnamed Qiu.

A market vendor said the mud poured in too quickly for him to react. "It was just like a flood. My food was all flushed away," he said.

The spill covered more than 500 square meters, and the market's dried food section near the road was the most affected. Products such as gourmet powder, mushrooms and fruit were soaked in silt.

"I probably lost 100,000 yuan (US$14,628) today," said the owner of a rice shop whose goods were spoiled.

Many other vendors also complained that their products could no longer be sold.

With the market closed and the road shut down, several truck drivers who were about to purchase products were turned back.

The district's environmental authority brought in absorbent material and began moving the waste away in garbage trucks, as residents and shop owners began washing off the silt with tap water.

The silt was dug from the nearby Longzhu River during a dredging project by the Shanghai Qiqiang Co Ltd and had been stored for about a month, said Zhang Hongbing, a district government official.

"They failed to make a proper estimation of the situation," Zhang said.

Company official Wang Jinfu said the firm will compensate those who suffered damage from the spill.