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Cover Story
Print Edition> Cover Story
UPDATED: August 6, 2010 NO. 32 AUGUST 12, 2010
Out of a Slick Shadow
Repercussions of an oil spill in China's coastal Dalian City have yet to be thoroughly measured and eliminated
By WANG JUN
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At a press conference held on July 30, Li Jun, Deputy Director of Dalian Oceanic and Fishery Bureau, said the oil spill that happened at Xingang Port caused the pollution of 50 square km of sea, while the total sea area around Dalian is 29,000 square km.

On July 22, the bureau established 13 monitoring sites at the accident spot and nearby sea areas, watching the quality of seawater, seabed sediment and aquatic products. The monitoring results show that the accident has not affected the fishing production in nearby sea areas and the aquatic products in Dalian are safe by now, Li said.

Monitoring shows the oil mainly impacted the shores of Dayao Bay, Xiaoyao Bay and Dalian Bay. All these areas are used for industrial purposes near Xingang Port and have been designated as no-cultivation areas. Aquatic cultivation activities within these areas are illegal and all fishing activities in the no-fishing season are prohibited, Li said.

Li said that most of the city's 3,300-square-km aquatic cultivation areas are in north part of the Yellow Sea, Changhai County and Bohai Sea, and the shellfish, sea cucumbers and shrimps sold in the market now are mainly from Changhai, Zhuanghe, Wafangdian of Dalian.

According to Li, the government has launched a marine ecological assessment of the July 16 accident, investigating the environment and ecological system in the related areas.

"The direction of wind slows down diffusion of the oil," said Zhou Wei, a professor at School of Life Science and Technology of Dalian Ocean University.

According to Zhou, the accident happened in summer when the wind usually blows northward. At the accident site and nearby sea areas, the shores face south, so the wind blew the oil to Dayao Bay, Xiaoyao Bay and Dalian Bay instead of international waters that are to the south.

Another lucky break was the tide. Zhou said when the accident happened, tidal movements were very subtle. Before July 26, when the next round of big tide movement came, crews had cleaned up most of the spilled oil on the sea.

"It's lucky the accident happened in summer. If it happened in winter when the wind blows from north, it would be much harder to control the oil slicks," Zhou said.

(Reporting from Dalian)

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