China has sacked a senior official of a zinc smelter that spilled toxic waste into a river in southern Guangdong province, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Zhang Weijian, director of the nation's third largest zinc smelter in the city of Shaoguan, was relieved of his post Thursday evening, Xinhua said, citing the general manager of the Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Non-ferrous Metals Co Ltd, the smelter's parent.
The December 15 accident has caused cadmium levels in some areas to surge to nearly 10 times above safety standards, forcing authorities along the North River to turn off tap water supplies for tens of thousands of people, Xinhua said late on Friday.
Cadmium is a metallic element widely used in batteries, and can cause liver and kidney damage and lead to bone diseases when ingested.
It is the second environmental disaster to hit the country in as many months after an explosion at a chemical plant in the north-east poisoned drinking water for millions and sent a frozen, poisonous slick heading slowly but surely towards Russia.
Following the November 13 accident in Jilin province, China's top environmental minister resigned and a vice mayor in charge of evacuating a city where the explosion occurred was said to have hanged himself.
Xinhua reported that 222 people responsible for six major coal mining accidents that left 528 dead since November 2004 have been "dealt with according to Chinese law".
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