More than 2,800 dead pigs have been found in a major river
More than 2,800 dead pigs have been found in a major river that flows through Shanghai, igniting fears among city residents of contaminated tap water, according to state news media reports on Monday.
Officials were trying to determine who had dumped the carcasses into the river, the Huangpu, which slices through the heart of Shanghai. Some reports blamed farmers. Officials were seeking to track the source of the pigs from marks on their ears, and a preliminary inquiry found that the dumping occurred in Zhejiang Province, which is south of Shanghai and upstream on the Huangpu.
Photographs of the carcasses floating in the river were circulating widely on the Internet. One photograph on the Web site of Global Times showed sanitation workers in orange vests and blue uniforms lifting carcasses from Hengliaojing Creek with long wooden poles.
An accompanying report, citing a Shanghai news Web site, said the first carcasses were discovered Thursday near a water treatment plant in an area that is a protected water resource. Their numbers increased quickly over the weekend, and the tally was expected to grow further as search barges returned to Shanghai.
Shanghai Waterworks, which manages the city’s tap water, said Sunday night that the water still met drinking standards, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. Shanghai officials said the group was checking the water hourly.
Mr. Xu said samples of the pigs had been sent to an agricultural commission to determine what killed them. Officials will have answers within three days, he said.
A sample of the river water tested positive for porcine circovirus, which officials said does not spread to humans, Xinhua reported. One strain of the virus can cause pigs to waste.
Many Chinese are expressing growing concern over air, soil and water pollution. In recent weeks, several official news organizations have run articles and editorials casting a spotlight on pollution of some of China’s major waterways.
I don’t know! I’m smelling some sort of foul play!