Khabarovsk (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Russian authorities have stepped up emergency measures to guarantee unpolluted water to the eastern part of the country, but they are giving conflicting accounts about the threat posed by the toxic benzene slick working its way there from China. The toxic slick is the outcome of an explosion in a Chinese chemical plant; it led to water shortages in Harbin, the capital of the northern province of Heilongjiang in China.

An emergency shipment of 20 tons of charcoal - for use in purifying the water from benzene - was unloaded in the river at Khabarovsk; officials responsible for coordinating Russia's response to the approaching spill were considering ordering up to 200 tons of charcoal.

Huge stocks of clean water in bottles and cisterns were also sent to Khabarovsk and other populated areas along the banks of the Amur River. "Preparations for a possible state of emergency are proceeding as planned," said Vladimir Popov, head of a regional committee monitoring the spill.

However, officials gave conflicting accounts of the location and concentration of the benzene slick after reporting that the first traces of polluted substance had been detected. Oleg Mitvol, deputy chief of Rosprirodnadzora (Russia's natural resources management agency), said analyses carried out on a branch of the Amur river west of Khabarovsk showed benzene levels up to twice the allowed limit.

A spokesman for the same agency, Yevgeny Snegiryov, said "the preliminary conclusion" of testing linked the benzene traces to an 80km-long spill along the river.

Popov said the information "does not correspond with reality. Tests currently show a drop in benzene concentrations in the Amur". For Snegiryov, however, "no hypothesis can be ruled out".