Workers Question China’s Account of Oil Spill

The official account of the recent oil spill off the Dalian coast has been brought into question by a new report from Greenpeace. From the New York Times:

Since July 16, when an explosion and fire ruptured a pipe linking a berthed oil tanker to an onshore storage facility at the PetroChina port, officials here have strained to minimize the scope of the damage. Their version of events, released shortly after the spill, states that a broken pipe leaked 1,500 metric tons, or about 11,000 barrels, of crude into the bay off Dalian’s northeastern coast. It states that the spill occurred after workers unloading oil from the berthed ship accidentally set off an explosion and fire and that the oil was quickly contained before it could enter international waters.

That remains the official story this week. But an investigation by the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace and accounts by two experts with authoritative knowledge of what happened make a compelling case for an alternative account.

The Greenpeace report, issued last week, said that as the fire from the explosion spread, large quantities of oil were deliberately released from onshore tanks to avert devastating damage to a tank at the storage facility that was filled with dimethylbenzene, a flammable and poisonous gas used to make aviation fuel and solvents. Had the oil fire reached that tank, the report said, the resulting explosion could have released a toxic cloud endangering the entire area.

This week, two experts with detailed knowledge of the accident confirmed that account, with one saying that the cloud could have killed thousands of people.

Read the Greenpeace report. Read more about the recent spill here.

CDT EBOOKS

Subscribe to CDT

SUPPORT CDT

Browsers Unbounded by Lantern

Now, you can combat internet censorship in a new way: by toggling the switch below while browsing China Digital Times, you can provide a secure "bridge" for people who want to freely access information. This open-source project is powered by Lantern, know more about this project.

Google Ads 1

Giving Assistant

Google Ads 2

Anti-censorship Tools

Life Without Walls

Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention

Open popup
X

Welcome back!

CDT is a non-profit media site, and we need your support. Your contribution will help us provide more translations, breaking news, and other content you love.