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Four coal company heads blamed for the leak that contaminated rivers in Shanxi Province have been sacked.
While authorities - who were slow to respond - admit they didn't realise the chemical leak could spread as widely as it did...
This is the Zhuozhang River, a vital water source for downstream cities in Hebei and Henan provinces.
But now, its too dangerous to drink...
After nearly 9 tonnes of the toxic chemical aniline leaked by a chemical plant ended up in its waters almost a week ago, from a broken pipe at a nearby coal plant.
An initial investigation revealed that a loose drainage valve in the plant caused the leak of the industrial chemical - used to make herbicides and other chemicals.
Four heads of the Tianji Coal Chemical Industry Group were sacked.
As of Sunday, aniline in a local river has affected the drainage area of about 80 square kilometers and 28 villages, in Shanxi.
Local authorities have cut the water supply from the affected reservoir and canal, and launched an emergency response, to stop the leak and clean the water.
Employees spotted the leak on the morning of December 31st, while conducting a routine check.
But authorities say they only received the report on January 5th - five days after the accident happened.
Apologetic - though not officially apologising - the mayor of Changzhi says they didn't realise the chemical spill, would lead to disaster...
SOUNDBITE(CHINESE) ZHANG BAO, Mayor of Changzhi
"The chemical company reported the aniline leak amount was about one ton. As the amount appeared small, we regarded it as common industrial accident, and thought the company could deal with it on its own. We didn't expect the the leak would lead to such big environmental risks and we are sorry for the public."
The chemical crisis comes days after a subsidiary of the China Railway Tunnel Group covered up a deadly tunnel blast in Shanxi... Killing eight people and injuring five more.
Authorities confirmed the explosion on December 30th, one day after it was uncovered by netizens - the country's increasingly vocal online population.
The State Council's Work Safety Committee says the government will step up crackdowns on the concealment of fatal accidents and give greater punishments, to those responsible.
