The people of Khabarovsk -- the largest Russian city in the slick's path, with some 580,000 residents -- wondered yesterday how long they'll have to go without running water once the spill arrives.
''No one knows anything," said Lidiya Vladimirova, 65, shoveling snow near the river bank. ''Nowadays, who's going to take care of you? You need to take care of yourself."
Vladimirova said she has started washing her hands with tap water and then rinsing them with water she's stockpiled at home. She's filled every possible container in case officials switch off the taps, as they did in Chinese communities upriver.
The city government is issuing daily notices in newspapers and on television trying to assure residents their water is safe -- for now.
''People remember Chernobyl, when the government didn't say anything for days or warn residents. . . . Now they accuse the government of not telling the truth," regional government spokeswoman Natalya Zimina said. She said a telephone hot line will be set up today to answer residents' concerns.
''We aren't hiding anything," she said.
Helicopters are being deployed to ferry samples of water from upriver for testing in Khabarovsk. In the city of Leninskoye, close to the Chinese border, benzene is already 1.3 times the level considered safe, according to the Far East Meteorological and Environmental Monitoring Service. But officials don't believe the contamination is linked to the accident in China, as the Amur is already heavily polluted.
Deputy Mayor Andrei Vologzhanin said authorities would stop drawing water from the Amur if tests show a high concentration of benzene and other chemicals. He told the ITAR-Tass news agency the city has enough drinking water in reserve to last at least 10 days.
Zimina said they estimate it will take 40 hours for the slick to pass through Khabarovsk.
More than 100 trucks -- everything from fire engines to water tankers -- will provide water to hospitals and other vital facilities. Bread factories have stockpiled water and will keep running. Authorities are flying in 600 tons of active charcoal to help filter water.
