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.

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.

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.

The slick also occurred just as Galicia's cold waters were beginning to recover from the 2003 spill by the Prestige oil tanker. Source: The Guardian