Xie Zhenhua, head of the ministry-level State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), resigned from his post Friday and was replaced by Zhou Shengxian, former director of the State Forestry Administration, SEPA officials told AFP.

China Central Television, citing sources in the cabinet-level State Council, said Xie's resignation was directly linked to a November 13 benzene spill into the Songhua river that resulted in an 100-kilometer (60-mile) long toxic slick now floating downstream toward Russia.

The spill, which came after a massive explosion at a PetroChina chemical plant in Jilin city, resulted in a five-day cut of water supplies to the 3.8 million residents of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, last week.

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