The Firey Pillars of Dalian Port

(Dalian) - Consumed in a sea of flames reaching up to tens of meters in the air, Dalian Port was plunged into a blaze that lasted for over 15 hours on July 16. Two oil pipeline explosions related to an oil tanker's unloading pump set off a fire that released more than 1,500 tons of crude oil into the Yellow Sea, resulting in Liaoning Province's largest-ever maritime oil spill.

The oil terminal has since resumed operation, but little has been done to address the port's safety standards or who will be responsible for the marred shoreline.

Stretching out five kilometers, a black oil slick two centimeters thick and 10 meters wide has settled around the entrance channel to Dayao Bay. Further out to sea are several huge oil spots. On a beach to the south of the spill site, black oil wraps around the stony shore. The shells and algae brought in by the waves are soaked in oil.
 
Three days after the spill, the city announced that cleanup efforts would take less than 10 days. Other government agencies and experts swiftly countered the estimate. In a written statement, the North Sea Branch of the State Ocean Administration said on July 20, "Concentrated areas of the spill can be handled, but the spill continues to spread. A complete cleanup timetable of the spill has yet to be determined."
 
Zhao Zhangyuan, a researcher at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences said the environmntal damage to Dalian's waters "may linger for a decade or more."
 
China's Oil Terminal
 
The Port of Dalian is Northeastern China's largest oil and liquefied chemicals storage and distribution base. It holds the country's biggest and most advanced crude oil wharfs, which can handle super-sized tankers of up to 300,000 tons.

Modern oil ports require constant attention in the prevention of fire and explosions. But the numerous safety risks at Dalian Port, which were glaringly apparent before the incident, have yet to be addressed.

The maze of densely-laid pipelines at Dalian Port amplifies the destructive potential of small accidents. These issues of containment are found in other aspects of the port's basic infrastructure. Storage tanks are located in close proximity to the tankers. The storage area includes tanks for crude oil, refined oil, hazardous chemicals and several other products, each belonging to different companies with different management standards.

After a preliminary investigation, China's work safety agency and the Ministry of Public Security said the explosion was due to the pumping of an oxidizing agent into the tanker's oil pipeline after the flow of oil had stopped.

At the time of the accident, workers from the Tianjin Huishengda Petroleum Technology Ltd. and the Dalian branch of Shanghai Xiangcheng Commodity Inspection Technology Service Co. Ltd boarded the "Cosmic Jewel" oil tanker and pumped chemicals into its oil pipes during routine unloading operations. Two oil pipeline explosions caused a fire to tear through  the Dalian oil terminal. Operated by Singapore Pacific Oil, the "Cosmic Jewel" had been carrying 300,000 tons of crude oil from Venezuela.
 
Without a Full Cleanup
 
Oil containment booms and absorbing agents were thrown onto the shoreline just after the accident by Dalian City and the North Sea Branch of the State Oceanic Administration. According to announcements made by China Sea Patrols Department on July 19, the oil spill spanned across 430 square kilometers. And the area contaminated continues to grow.
 
Sun Benqiang, deputy director of Dalian's Work Safety Bureau, said that local resources for handling oil spills on ships falls short of being functional, especially when it comes to major accidents.
 
With the hazards of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico looming large, local residents are more aware of the effects that the Dalian spill will have on the local environment.
 
Yang Ailun, a worker at Greenpeace China, conducted an environmental impact assessment on water quality with her colleagues. The report states that the accident has severely threatened Dalian Bay's water quality, ecosystem and marine life. This will impact the local fishing and tourism industries as well, as the daily lives of local residents.
 
According to national sea water quality standards, the water in the Dalian area has always been relatively poor. In the aftermath of this accident, an already fragile ecosystem is worse.
 
Over the past several decades, marine oil spills have frequently occurred. According to statistics from the State Oceanic Administration, an oil spill occurs along China's coastline once every four days on average. Between 1998 and 2008, 733 shipping contamination incidents occurred in Chinese waters. The high frequency of oil spills has increased pollution levels along China's coast.
 
The difficulty of the current situation lies in the long-term effects of the pollution. Pan Jianming, a researcher at the State Oceanic Administration said, "Not only has cleanup technology not kept up, managing the astronomical costs of cleanup remain an issue." But without a national compensatory system, costs will continue to be borne by local communities. He added, "In China, the sole factor in determining maritime pollution compensation still only covers losses to business."