Soil remediation to start in Tianjin blast site

Soil remediation work will soon start at the site of the deadly Tianjin warehouse explosions following the completion of container cleanup, an environmental protection expert said Wednesday.

A soil treatment plan has been approved by the authorities and will be implemented soon, said Bao Jingling, head of an environment emergency expert group under the Tianjin municipal environmental protection bureau.

Dangerous waste will be transported to the hazardous waste disposal center for treatment. General solid wastes, including construction wastes, will be recycled after nonhazardous disposal, he said.

Two blasts ripped through a warehouse at around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 12 in Tianjin Port, where large amounts of toxic chemicals were stored, including around 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide.

Bao suggested establishing a cloud data system to track hazardous goods as well as emergency material reserves to cope with future environmental pollution.

After the completion of the soil treatment, a 24-hectare park on the site of the blast is expected to start construction in November and be completed in July next year. There are also plans to build primary schools, kindergartens and vegetable markets around the area. Endi