Six people stood trial Wednesday morning in Jinshan District People's Court for causing a chemical spill that put 46 residents in the hospital and caused an estimated 4.8 million yuan ($782,026) in damages, local media reported.

The spill occurred at a port on Jinzhang Road on January 10, when three defendants, Liu Langjian, Du Guoxing and Liu Kang were trying to transfer a shipment of a petrochemical called C9 to a waiting boat, according to a report in the Xinmin Evening News.

Because the defendants didn't check whether the valve on the boat was properly sealed, 52 tons of the petrochemical leaked into the Jueshigang Creek, the report said.

The spill polluted creeks in Jinshan, Songjiang, Fengxian and Minhang districts. The residents were hospitalized due to exposure to the petrochemical in their tap water.

In court, all of the defendants denied that they noticed the leak during the transfer, the report said.

Nanjing Dragon and Phoenix Chemical Co, the company that transported the shipment, was supposed to deliver it to a different port that had the proper facilities to handle hazardous chemicals, said defendant Wang Jinlong, the person legally in charge of the company. However, the company chose to take the chemicals to the port on the Jueshigang Creek because it was cheaper.

According to the Chinese law, a defendant can face up to seven years in prison for mishandling dangerous substances.

In another chemical spill in August 2012, a truck carrying epoxyethane leaked, leading to two deaths.

Global Times