Czech chemical plant admits chlorine leak higher than previously reported

Spolana chemical plant spokesman Jan Martinek said on 9 September that nearly 81,000 kilograms of chlorine gas and liquid leaked into the Labe (Elbe) River and the air last month, when the Neratovice-based plant, some 20 kilometers north of Prague, was seriously affected by flooding, CTK reported. A laboratory analysis commissioned by Czech Radio and Czech Television concluded that dangerous quantities of dioxins that leaked from the plant settled in sediments on the shores of the Labe, dpa reported. The analysis concluded that dioxin levels in the village of Libis, half a kilometer downstream from Spolana, were three times higher than safety norms. MS