VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT Following the deadly explosions in Tianjin on 12 August, the Chinese authorities commissioned Veolia to treat 1,100 metric tons of toxic wastewater.
On 12 August, the warehouses containing 700 metric tons of sodium cyanide, a highly toxic substance, caught fire following the explosions in the Chinese city of Tianjin. Cyanide levels up to 28.4 times higher than normal were found in water near the disaster site.On 15 August, the Chinese authorities asked Veolia's Hazardous Waste Integrated Treatment Centre, located around 40 km from the site, to take delivery of 100 metric tons of toxic waste and to take 500 metric tons more on 18 August and 20 August respectively, for a total of 1,100 metric tons. This contaminated water will be securely contained before being treated.
Veolia's Hazardous Waste Integrated Treatment Centre in Tianjin, established in 2003, has a treatment capacity of 350 metric tons of waste per day. The toxic wastewater will be treated by oxidation - which transforms the cyanide to much less dangerous cyanate - and then neutralization.
Régis Calmels
Director of Veolia in Asia
Régis Calmels, Director of Veolia in Asia , emphasized, «This operation demonstrates the Group's ability to react to critical events. Veolia was also one of the first to intervene after the Fukushima disaster in 2011»
It should be noted that Veolia has been operating in Tianjin since 1997. The Group supplies drinking water to over three million people there, treats the hazardous waste from the port and wastewater from an industrial zone.
Learn more about Veolia presence in Tianjin
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