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Oil slicks poisoning China's Bohai Sea: official

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-22 19:12

BEIJING: Oil spills from pipelines and ships and illegal dumping of waste from the production of crude are polluting China's northeastern Bohai Sea, a senior marine official said on Monday.

Liu Xincheng, deputy director of the department at China's State Oceanic Administration which is responsible for the Bohai area, said small oil spills were happening frequently and putting the diversity of marine life in jeopardy.

The country's booming economy and high dependence on imported crude means its oil companies have been rushing to exploit rich deposits in its coastal areas, and there is damaging shipping traffic in the area as well.

"There are three main causes of oil spills. One is the oil that escapes from ships at sea, the second is improperly handled waste from oil production, the third is leaks from oil pipelines," Liu told Reuters.

There were 12 oil spills in the Bohai area in 2008, two the result of oil exploitation, the Beijing News said. One oil field operator was also fined for oil leakage from a pipe.

Bohai Sea is on the northeastern coast of China, bounded by Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, so pollution there is slow to wash out to the ocean, exacerbating damage to local marine life.

"The oil slicks are hard to clear up, and their impact on the diversity of sea species will be permanent," Liu told China's Legal Daily, in comments he later confirmed to Reuters.

There are 17 oil companies operating more than 1,100 oil wells in the area, the Legal Daily said.

Earlier this month, media reported that a total of 145,000 sq km (56,000 square miles) of shallow waters along China's coast failed to meet quality standards.