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China Port Reopens After Oil Spill, Cleanup Continues

   VOA News 20 July 2010
   Fire fighters try to contain the flames from a pipeline explosion at a
   Chinese  port in Dalian in northern China's Liaoning province, 17, Jul
   2010

Photo: AP

   Fire fighters try to contain the flames from a pipeline explosion at a
   Chinese  port in Dalian in northern China's Liaoning province, 17, Jul
   2010

   Officials  at  a  port in northeast China say most maritime operations
   have resumed while crews work to clean up a huge oil spill.
   Authorities  in  the  city  of Dalian lifted a partial ban on maritime
   traffic  Tuesday,  four  days after explosions destroyed two crude oil
   pipelines  in  Xingang  Port.  It  took 2,000 firefighters 15 hours to
   contain the blaze.
   Oil  that  spilled  from the pipes now covers 180 square kilometers in
   the  Yellow  Sea.  News  reports  say heavy rains and strong winds are
   hampering efforts to prevent the slick from spreading.
   China's  official news agency Xinhua says shipments of oil from Dalian
   to  southern  China  have been reduced until the cleanup is completed.
   Dalian operates the country's largest crude-oil terminal.
   The  explosions  occurred  Friday at a depot run by the China National
   Petroleum Corporation, China's largest oil company.
   Authorities  in China said Monday it will take 10 days to clean up the
   spill, which is estimated at 1,500 tons of crude oil.
   Environmentalists  say  it  is  too early to determine what impact the
   spill will have on marine life.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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