Environmental group says China oil spill is serious
Chinese authorities have been asked by Greenpeace China to work harder to clean up a group of islands which have been polluted by spilt oil.
The environmental group has expressed concern that
oil continued to leak into the water until July 22, six days after the spill began.
While the government reported that 1,500 tonnes were spilt after a burst in a pipeline at a China National Petroleum Corporation terminal in Dalian, Greenpeace China has said its assessment puts the amount of oil that may have entered the sea at 90,000 tonnes.
Officials last week declared the clean-up of surrounding islands as being successful.
But Greenpeace has said its calculations show there is still 30,000 tonnes of oil to be gathered in clean-up operations.
The environmental group has expressed concern about the state of several small islands further out to sea that it believes may still be heavily polluted.
Members of the group have reported local fishermen trying to clean oil residue from shells and fish before selling the toxic products to the market.
Initial reports have indicated that some of the oil was released deliberately by workers at the oil depot to prevent the spread of a fire near tanks containing toxic dimethyl-benzene.
As many as 8,000 workers have already been involved in cleaning up the spill, mostly using buckets without gloves, goggles or respiratory equipment.
Greenpeace has said some of the workers have already come down with headaches and skin rashes and have been vomiting from the fumes given off by the oil.
Source: Europe News.Net
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