Oil spill from Dalian explosion spreads to cover 100 sq km of sea

More than 400 workers scrambled to contain ocean pollution yesterday as an oil leak from Friday's explosion of two crude oil pipelines in Dalian, Liaoning, expanded from 50 to 100 square kilometres within one day.

China National Radio reported that the crude oil had spread much faster than efforts to contain the leak in Xingang Harbour, and one spill area of at least 10 square kilometres turned the water black. Even the spindrift was black, which served as a warning that the oil could pollute popular beaches nearby if the wind changed direction.

Xinhua reported yesterday that 40 vessels had been deployed to lay booms and throw felt cloth onto the water's surface to absorb the oil. It said one piece of the cloth could absorb 35 to 40 litres of oil, far from enough to deal with tonnes of leaked oil. The booms laid to block oil from spreading were extended from 7,000 to 9,000 metres, and authorities sent more than 30 tonnes of neutralising chemicals from Beijing, Hebei and Shandong .

Even so, environmentalists said the government's rescue work was far from adequate and predicted worse developments from the massive spill in the Yellow Sea.

'[We] should never underestimate the aftermath brought by an explosion ... The vessels, devices and materials being used to clean up the sea are far from effectively containing the current oil pollution,' Xinhua quoted an unidentified environmentalist as saying. 'The loss to the environment caused by the explosion won't be less than the value of the tonnes of leaked oil, and it's more difficult to contain the ocean pollution than to repair the oil pipelines.'

Environmentalists also worried that about five million tonnes of chemical foam and 20 tonnes of powder used to extinguish the massive fire sparked by the explosion would further pollute the Yellow Sea.

State media reported that the pungent odour at the explosion site could be smelled five kilometres away, and many residents worried about whether the emitted thick smoke was toxic. Dalian's downtown was still thick with smog two days after the blast. More than 600 households located four kilometres away were evacuated after the blast, although Dalian authorities insisted the smoke was not life-threatening.