China’s chief environment official has resigned in the wake of scathing public criticism of the handling of a toxic spill into the river supplying water to millions of farmers and city dwellers in north-east China... Xie Zhenhua, the director-general of the State Environment Protection Administration...was forced out to take responsibility for the spill into the Songhua river, near Harbin, and SEPA’s mishandling of its aftermath, the [Xinhua] statement said... Mr Xie’s ousting will create pressure for further resignations from the large body of city and provincial officials, and company executives, involved in an elaborate initial cover-up of the pollution...caused by an explosion at a chemicals plant operated by PetroChina... PetroChina did not take responsibility for the pollution until after Harbin’s water had been turned off for five days to prevent local residents drinking it.