12.25.2005, 07:25 AM

KHABAROVSK, Russia (AFX) - Experts voiced optimism that a toxic slick flowing down the Amur river in Russia's Far East region from China would not pose a danger to marine life when it reaches the sea.

'The concentration of dangerous elements would be so insignificant by the time the river carries it into the sea, that it would be simply undetectable for the fish,' said the chief of the Pacific fish industry research institute's department in the city of Khabarovsk, German Novomodny.

'Even in spring, when the benzene now frozen in ice and nitrobenzene which now sinks to the bottom get into the river, this will not poison the sea fauna,' Novomodny said, according to Agence France-Presse.

The spill was caused by an explosion at a chemical factory in China on November 13. That spewed 100 metric tons of benzene, a known carcinogen, into the Songhua river, a tributary of the Amur which runs along the Russia-Chinese border before entering Russian territory above Khabarovsk.

In Khabarovsk itself the 600,000 local people will have to bear the effects of the slick for three days as it makes its way downstream but experts insist pollution levels remain within acceptable levels.

The regional office of the emergency situations ministry told AFP that the main slick had started passing through the city early today and will take three days to clear.