Mine spill threatens water supply

Runoff from a major leak in a lead-zinc mine spilled into the Zi River in Hunan province Thursday, cutting off water supplies to 200,000 residents downriver, AP reported. State media reported that 29,000 cubic meters of lead-zinc residue flooded into the river after a drain-pipe ruptured at the nearby Zhongtai Mining Corporation. The spill marks the second time that pollution on the Zi River has disrupted water supplies, and the latest of several recent such accidents. An explosion at a chemical plant in Jilin province in 2005 dumped toxic chemicals into the Songhua River, cutting water supplies to millions of Chinese while villagers in Guangxi lost their water this April after dangerous levels of lead were found in the Hong River.