Fishing Banned In Russia's Amur Region

China's Songhua River after the toxic spill in Harbin. The Songhua flows in the Amur. (AFP) 10 December 2005 -- The governor of Russia's Far East Khabarovsk region has banned fishing in the Amur River as a toxic spill from an explosion at a chemical plant in northeast China drifts into Russian territory.

Regional authorities said the ban, as well as restrictions imposed today on fish trading, will be lifted after environmental experts are satisfied fish from the Amur pose no threat to human health.

The 13 November explosion poured some 100 tons of toxic chemicals into China's Songhua River, which flows into the Amur.

Russian officials yesterday said they no longer expect concentrations of toxic chemicals to exceed the allowed norm when the spill reaches Khabarovsk later this month.

(rosbalt.ru/newsru.com)