A river in Ruian, Zhejiang province turned milky white on Sunday morning, with fish surfacing due to a lack of oxygen, after water-based adhesive raw material leaked from a nearby webbing factory, local environmental authorities said.
Residents reported that the "Dadianxia River" section in Ting Tian subdistrict changed colour overnight. A witness said the river was normal on Saturday evening but had turned "milky white" by around 7am on Sunday. Although there was no unusual smell and no fish deaths, many small fish were seen surfacing.
The Wenzhou Ecological Environment Bureau's Ruian branch received a report from the factory at 5.50am that water-based adhesive raw material had leaked from a faulty storage tank valve into the river. The company immediately stopped the leak and cut off the pollution source.
Environmental, emergency and monitoring personnel arrived at the scene and developed a treatment plan based on the physical properties of the leaked substance. By around 2pm, the affected river section had returned to normal water quality. The company has been ordered to carry out a full rectification and is under formal investigation.
