China oil spill in the Yellow Sea

Dalian

With the Gulf oil spill still not contained, countries are ensuring oil safety regulations are still at their most stringent, however it seems accidents are still happening.

At the weekend, it was reported that two oil pipelines exploded in the port city of Dalian, causing a large oil spill in the Yellow Sea. The Chinese response was immediate, they shut down Dalian, one of China's biggest ports, and went to work deploying more than 500 fishing boats to contain the slick.

Despite the fast reaction, and hundreds of firefighters battling the flames, reports stated that the slick covered an area of 71 square miles, with 19 of those described as "severe." It is estimated that 1650 tons of oil has spilled into the sea.

Speaking at a press conference, Xu Guochen, secretary of the Dalian municipal government said: "We may be able to clean up the sea within roughly five days by allocating all possible resources."

Meanwhile one oil terminal has been closed, while another was forced to draw on crude stockpiles in the aftermath of the accident.

The pipelines were owned by PetroChina and while it is believes that the port will reopen in a few days with oil supplies restored to the refineries, the "incident will have more impact on PetroChina's reputation than direct economic losses."

Environmental cost

There has been a push in China for stricter environmental standards, especially since a toxic copper mine leak in the south of the country last week led to accusations of corruption.

Despite barely matching in size to the Gulf of Mexico's spill, it is the biggest in Chinese waters and could have a long-term impact on the marine ecology of the area.

A taskforce is still underway to clean-up the oil as much as possible, with the Ministry of Agriculture saying 1000 fishing boats will be dispatched to help with the efforts. More than 20 vessels have been deployed to spray chemicals and a seven-kilometer barrier has been set up to contain the spill.

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Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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