Liaoning maritime authorities announced an end to clean-up efforts last week, saying water quality in the polluted area had been restored to the pre-spill level, based on an assessment from August 25-29.

More than 1,500 tonnes of crude oil leaked into the sea on July 16 after a pipeline explosion at national strategic oil storage facilities belonging to PetroChina in the port of Xingang.

Although a barrier set up near the National Geopark a few kilometres from Xingang to prevent further spread of the spill has not yet been removed, there is no trace of oil on the surface of the water or along the shoreline at beaches including Jinshitan and Golden Pebble Beach.

Few oil stains could be seen along the coast where crude oil up to 30cm thick was spotted the day after the explosion. But at least one beach, Xieziwan - once a slightly polluted, but popular beach in Ganjingzi district - is now even more polluted and looks beyond repair.

Dalian Environmental Protection Volunteers' Association director Tang Zailin said the clean-up result was better than expected, but some of the oil - which could have gone down to the sea bed or the beach, particularly in heavily polluted areas - would take much longer to clean or for the ocean to absorb.

The government's victory declaration coincided with the end of a three-month fishing ban in the Bohai and Yellow seas. Seafood is expected to flood the markets, and fish farmers in Dalian are also expecting their busiest period of the year.

Zhong Yu, senior action co-ordinator for Greenpeace China, said she understood the government's attempt to minimise economic losses with such assurances, but authorities should act more responsibly in promoting Dalian seafood, particularly farmed products.

She said it would be difficult to run independent water quality tests, but the water quality in polluted areas would be a cause for concern, given the extent of the pollution and the short duration of the clean-up operation, in which large amounts of oil dispersants were used.

'The government should develop a buy-back scheme in which the perpetrators have to pay for the products from farms deemed too polluted,' she said.

A preliminary investigation found that four companies - including a PetroChina subsidiary in Dalian, PetroChina International, and Tianjin Huishengda Petroleum Technology - were responsible for the spill.

Shao Jisheng ,a fish farmer at Jinshitan, said farmers and small vendors had taken up their grievances with government departments, but had yet to receive a response. Shao said they were worried about a big loss in the winter harvest of sea cucumber, a delicacy and key product of Dalian. Oil had infiltrated the water at the farm where he works and the crabs had taken on an odd smell, he said.

Another farmer said he would think of petitioning higher authorities with other farmers if they did not receive compensation.

As state monopolies such as PetroChina could not be forced to pay compensation in previous similar cases, the likelihood of an American-style lawsuit - similar to the one against BP over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - in the government-controlled court system is slim.

Yang Naizhou , who manages a fish farm of 160 hectares in Jinshitan, said he was prepared to go through all the red tape to seek compensation. The farm owner invested more than 10 million yuan (HK$11.4 million) three years ago and was looking forward to his first harvest of sea cucumber, but said he would probably have to wait until November to know the extent of his losses.

He said he signed a five-year lease for 12 million yuan but has lost 300,000 yuan in seaweed farming this year as a result of the spill. 'Of course we need compensation. How else are we going to live after we've invested so much?' he said.

Fish farmers are not the only ones reeling from the spill. Atop a floating bridge still tainted with oil on both sides, the operator of a speedboat sightseeing service at Jinshitan said its business had dropped by at least half this year.

Zhang Yunxiu , who operates a makeshift stall selling freshly cooked seafood, said his business was down by two-thirds because of the bad publicity from the spill.

He said he didn't expect to make the 30,000 yuan this year he needs to pay off the lease on the stall.

Still reeling

Authorities last week declared victory in cleaning up the oil spill

The percentage of revenue Dalian's fish farmers and tourist site vendors say they have lost since the July 16 spill is: 50%