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A view shows crude oil in the sea near Dalian, Liaoning province. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
<!-- story content : start --> BEIJING - CHINESE authorities are battling to contain a 50 sq km oil slick after two crude oil pipelines exploded in the northeastern port of Dalian, state media reported on Monday. Hundreds of firefighters battled for more than 15 hours to extinguish the blaze that started late on Friday when a pipe transporting crude oil from a ship to a storage tank blew up, causing a second pipeline nearby to explode.
There were no casualties, but state television said oil had contaminated the ocean off the port city in Liaoning Province. The storage facility is jointly owned by Dalian port and China's top oil company, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC). Workers are using skimmers and dispersants to break up the oil slick and stop it spreading, the official China Daily said. The pollution is concentrated about 100 km offshore.
'By Sunday evening, about 7,000 meters of floating booms had been set up and at least 20 oil skimmers were working to clean the spill,' the newspaper quoted local officials as saying. There are no residents within 3 km of the affected site, and little 'marine farming', the report added. The Xingang oil storage site, where the explosion happened, is home to one of the country's first government-held emergency crude stockpiles.
It is also a transfer spot for two nearby major refineries, Dalian Petrochemical Corp and West Pacific Petrochemical Corp (WEPEC), both operated by PetroChina with a combined crude processing capacity of 600,000 barrels per day. -- REUTERS
Firefighters arrive at the oil pipeline blast site in Dalian, a port city in northeast China's Liaoning province. -- PHOTO: AP
More than 2,000 firefighters were mobilised to tackle a spectacular blaze which broke out at a Chinese port after explosions hit two oil pipelines.
-- PHOTO: AFP
Fire fighters try to contain the flames from a pipeline explosion at a Chinese port in Dalian in northern China's Liaoning province.
-- PHOTO: AP
The oil pipeline at the busy Chinese port in Dalian exploded, causing a massive fire that burned for 15 hours before being put out Saturday.
Officials said no one was killed. -- PHOTO: AP
Firefighters rest in front of a burning oil tank after an oil pipeline blast in Dalian. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Chinese firefighters extinguish a fire after battling flames which burned for 15 hours at a port in Dalian. -- PHOTO: AFP
Chinese firemen rest as smoke continues to rise from the remains of an installation at a port in Dalian. -- PHOTO: AFP
Firefighters have extinguished a fire that raged for more than 15 hours after two oil pipelines exploded in the port of Dalian in northeast China.
-- PHOTO: REUTERS
There were no casualties, but state television CCTV reported that oil had contaminated a 50 sq km area of the ocean off the port city in Liaoning Province.
Leaked oil floating off the coast of Dalian. -- PHOTO: AP
A huge oil slick is seen in the Yellow Sea on Sunday. -- PHOTO: AFP
Workers (left) attempt to contain a huge oil slick from seeping further into the Yellow Sea and a Chinese worker (right) tries to soak up oil from a spill.
-- PHOTOS: AFP, AP
A worker attempts to rescue his co-worker from drowning in the oil slick while attempting to fix an underwater pump during the oil spill clean-up operations at Dalian's Port in Liaoning province. --PHOTO: AFP
A worker rescues his co-worker from drowning in the oil slick while attempting to fix an underwater pump during the oil spill clean-up operations at Dalian's Port in Liaoning province. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Firemen work on a burnt-out oil storage facility in Dalian, in northeast China's Liaoning province. --PHOTO: AP
Oil washes ashore at Dalian's Port in Liaoning province. --PHOTO: REUTERS
Clean-up workers in a boat try to contain a huge oil slick from seeping further into the Yellow Sea, after Chinese firemen extinguished a blaze at a port in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning province. --PHOTO: AFP
Chinese firefighters are seen on boats amongst the an oil spill near the coast of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province. --PHOTO: AP
China rushed to keep an oil spill from reaching international waters. --PHOTO: AFP
BEIJING - CHINA rushed to keep an oil spill from reaching international waters on Tuesday, while an environmental group tried to assess if the country's largest reported spill was worse than has been disclosed. Crude oil started pouring into the Yellow Sea off a busy northeastern port after a pipeline exploded late last week, sparking a massive 15-hour fire.
The government says the slick has spread across a 180 sq km stretch of ocean. Images of 30m-high flames shooting up near part of China's strategic oil reserves drew the immediate attention of President Hu Jintao and other top leaders. Now the challenge is cleaning up the greasy brown plume floating off the shores of Dalian, once named China's most livable city.
The environmental group, Greenpeace China, shot several photographs at the scene on Tuesday before their team was forced to leave. They showed oil-slicked rocky beaches, a man covered in thick black sludge up to his cheekbones, and workers carrying a colleague covered in oil away from the scene. His condition was not known.
Activists said it was too early to tell what impact the pollution might have on marine life. In a stroke of awkward timing, meanwhile, Dalian's International Beach Culture Festival, which draws thousands of tourists every year, started over the weekend, but the state-run Xinhua News Agency said waters around the beach had not been affected by the slick.
Officials told Xinhua they did not yet know how much oil had leaked, but China Central Television reported that no more pollution, including oil and firefighting chemicals, had entered the sea on Tuesday. It was not clear how far the spill was from China's closest neighbour in the region, North Korea.
Dalian's vice mayor, Dai Yulin, told Xinhua that 40 specialised oil-control boats would be on the scene by Tuesday evening, along with hundreds of fishing boats. Oil-eating bacteria were also being used in the cleanup. 'Our priority is to collect the spilled oil within five days to reduce the possibility of contaminating international waters,' he said. -- AP
China rushed to keep an oil spill from reaching international waters. --PHOTO: AFP
BEIJING - CHINA rushed to keep an oil spill from reaching international waters on Tuesday, while an environmental group tried to assess if the country's largest reported spill was worse than has been disclosed. Crude oil started pouring into the Yellow Sea off a busy northeastern port after a pipeline exploded late last week, sparking a massive 15-hour fire.
The government says the slick has spread across a 180 sq km stretch of ocean. Images of 30m-high flames shooting up near part of China's strategic oil reserves drew the immediate attention of President Hu Jintao and other top leaders. Now the challenge is cleaning up the greasy brown plume floating off the shores of Dalian, once named China's most livable city.
The environmental group, Greenpeace China, shot several photographs at the scene on Tuesday before their team was forced to leave. They showed oil-slicked rocky beaches, a man covered in thick black sludge up to his cheekbones, and workers carrying a colleague covered in oil away from the scene. His condition was not known.
Activists said it was too early to tell what impact the pollution might have on marine life. In a stroke of awkward timing, meanwhile, Dalian's International Beach Culture Festival, which draws thousands of tourists every year, started over the weekend, but the state-run Xinhua News Agency said waters around the beach had not been affected by the slick.
Officials told Xinhua they did not yet know how much oil had leaked, but China Central Television reported that no more pollution, including oil and firefighting chemicals, had entered the sea on Tuesday. It was not clear how far the spill was from China's closest neighbour in the region, North Korea.
Dalian's vice mayor, Dai Yulin, told Xinhua that 40 specialised oil-control boats would be on the scene by Tuesday evening, along with hundreds of fishing boats. Oil-eating bacteria were also being used in the cleanup. 'Our priority is to collect the spilled oil within five days to reduce the possibility of contaminating international waters,' he said. -- AP
Workers attempt to rescue a firefighter from drowning in the oil slick during the oil spill clean-up operations at Dalian's Port on July 20, 2010. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace)
A firefighter who was submerged in thick oil during an attempt to fix an underwater pump is brought ashore by his colleagues in Dalian, China on Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Jiang He, Greenpeace)
A firefighter who was rescued from oil-covered water is set down after being brought ashore by his colleagues in Dalian, China on Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Jiang He, Greenpeace)
The oil covered hand of a firefighter who was overwhelmed by the thick oil spill while attempting to fix an underwater pump is seen after he he was brought to shore by his colleagues in Dalian, China on Tuesday, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Jiang He, Greenpeace)
A small hole in the oil slick covering parts of Dalian's port reveals relatively cleaner water and seaweed beneath on July 18, 2010. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images)
