2005 Chemical Plant Explosion Memorial Site

The 2005 Jilin chemical plant explosions are a significant chapter in the environmental history of Chinese industrialisation. An explosion at the China National Petroleum Corporation facility in the Longtan district killed five workers and sent a massive benzene contamination slick down the Songhua River — a river that serves as the drinking water source for millions of people downstream, including the city of Harbin.

The incident is not commemorated formally, but the plant area in Longtan district is a landmark in the context of China's environmental awakening and the gradual development of environmental regulation and enforcement. For visitors interested in industrial history and environmental policy, the Longtan industrial district — the heavy industrial zone north of the city centre — represents the scale of northeast China's Soviet-influenced industrial development and some of the costs that came with it.

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The Jilin chemical plant explosions of November 2005 released 100 tonnes of benzene into the Songhua River, creating a 80-kilometre toxic slick that took weeks to pass. The city of Harbin, two million people, had its water supply cut off for days. The incident was initially denied by Chinese authorities before domestic and international pressure forced acknowledgment, and it became one of the pivotal environmental incidents in the history of Chinese environmental regulation.

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