Company says it has finished cleaning up pollution in sea

BEIJING - ConocoPhillips China says it has met the Aug 31 deadline that Chinese ocean officials set for it to clean up oil leaked into Bohai Bay.

By Wednesday, the State Oceanic Administration wanted the company to seal off the sources of the leak and clean up the oil released by accident into the bay. ConocoPhillips was also to submit a report on the causes of the incident and on its response to it. The US oil company said on its website on Wednesday that it had completed both tasks.

ConocoPhillips, a partner in the operation of an oilfield that has released large amounts of oil into Northeast China's Bohai Bay, said the sources of the leaks have been identified and sealed off. It also said precautionary measures are being taken to ensure oil does not start to seep out again, according to a Frequently-Asked-Questions section posted to the company's website on Wednesday.

ConocoPhillips submitted its report on the leaks to the State Oceanic Administration on Wednesday. The document discusses how the sources of the leaks were sealed and what the company learned from an internal investigation into the causes of the disaster.

The company estimated that 3,200 barrels of oil have been released into Bohai Bay.

A preliminary investigation suggested the leaks may have occurred after pressure built up in a reservoir, causing fluid to rise up through a fault in the sea floor, the company said.

The State Oceanic Administration said on its website that it has received ConocoPhillips' report.

It said it will inspect the site of the leaks again to confirm the report's results.

Although the US oil company is certain it has complied with the government's requirements, a State Oceanic Administration official, who declined to state his name, said a formal examination must still be conducted to determine if the deadline was met.

A North China Sea Branch of the State Oceanic Administration official, who also declined to state his name, said the person in charge of the response to the leaks went to the oilfield on Wednesday to check on the progress of the clean-up work.

Chen Jianmin, ocean engineering professor with the China University of Petroleum, said the oil accidentally released into the bay will gradually disappear now that the sources of the leaks have been sealed.

Fang Jianmeng, director of the North China Sea Branch of the State Oceanic Administration, said the branch has almost finished an assessment of the water that was polluted by the incident. That document is expected to provide evidence connecting the leaks to harm that has been done to the nearby fishery industry and the ocean environment.

The State Oceanic Administration has asked 16 provinces and cities near the bay, as well as fishermen harmed by the leaks, to help it seek compensation for the harm caused by the incident.

"We are ready for a long-term lawsuit," an insider of the administration's legal consultant team said on Wednesday.

"The cleanup continues and the environmental effects won't fade away for a while," she said. "So it's hard to say how much the compensation will be for."