Spain's shellfish industry at risk from toxic chemical plant leak
SPAIN - A coating of toxic chemicals has spread at least two miles along a river in Spain's shellfish centre, Galicia, killing hundreds of fish and cutting off drinking water to an estimated 100,000 people.</b> <br><br> The cloudy, turquoise slick was caused by a fire at a chemical plant on Friday, regional officials said, and it threatens to ooze down the Umia river to the Arosa estuary on the country's craggy north-west coast. <br><br> The spill is the second environmental disaster to hit the rural region this summer, which saw 2,000 forest fires ravage about 300 square miles of trees in two weeks - the worst outbreak of forest fires in 20 years. <br><br> The slick also occurred just as Galicia's cold waters were beginning to recover from the 2003 spill by the Prestige oil tanker. <i>Source: The Guardian</i>
