Official sacked over chemical spill

The director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (Sepa), Xie Zhenhua, has resigned over the toxic chemical spill in northeast China that polluted the Songhua River and forced the shutdown of city water supplies, state media reported. Xie will be replaced by Zhou Shengxian, former director of the State Forestry Administration. The State Council also rebuked the agency for negligence and incompetence. Wang Yuqing, a deputy minister of Sepa, was quoted criticizing officials at Sepa's Jilin branch for failing to report the spill before November 17. It was only on November 23 that Sepa admitted "serious pollution" had occurred.