583 chemical works closed, relocated, corrected in Tianjin blast site

TIANJIN - A total of 85 enterprises working with hazardous chemicals in Binhai New Area of north China's Tianjin municipality will be closed or relocated after district safety checks concluded.

Among the 85 enterprises on the "red" list, nine have been corrected, 10 have worked out plans for relocation and the remaining 66 have signed a deal with the government to restructure.

The investigation tallied 583 chemical works in the area, including 430 hazardous chemical factories, 89 companies transporting dangerous materials, 61 companies dealing with dangerous cargo at Tianjin Port and 3 firework warehouses.

All 67 enterprises on the "yellow" list and 431 on the "blue" list have passed safety inspections after correction and resumed operations, according to the district administration on work safety.

The administration is also drawing a geographic information map of the chemical works in the area while integrating the Internet, data mining and cloud computing techniques into the daily monitoring and emergency command.

A digital risk map covers surveillance of 309 enterprises and will be expanded to 379 by the year end, said Shan Yuhou, head of the administration.

On Aug. 12, two explosions ripped through a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals and residences at Tianjin Port. The blast claimed 173 lives, including 104 firefighters.