Fishermen to sue US oil firm for spills
Source: Xinhua |
August 19, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FISHERMEN in north China's Hebei Province are preparing to sue a United States-based oil company, as they believe recent oil spills in a nearby bay are to blame for the deaths of large numbers of scallops.
Fishermen from Tangshan in the province said they believe the scallops they were raising along the shores were poisoned by contamination from oil spills in the Penglai 19-3 oilfield in the Bohai Bay.
The oilfield is jointly operated by a Chinese subsidiary of US-based oil company ConocoPhillips and its partner, the China National Offshore Oil Corp.
The North Sea branch of the State Oceanic Administration announced on August 3 that the bay had been contaminated with fuel oil.
Economic losses of the fishermen are believed to be between 150 million yuan and 170 million yuan (US$23.5 million to US$26.6 million), as more than half of the scallops they raised have died, according to Yang Jizhen, president of the Laoting County Fishery Association.
"Each family (of fishermen) has been affected to a different extent. A more accurate figure will be calculated by November," Yang said.
Local authorities have not offered an explanation for the loss of the scallops, leading the fisherman to hire lawyers to sue ConocoPhillips, Yang said.
Three million yuan have been raised by the 153 families of fishermen who are planning to sue the company, according to Yang. The money will be used to cover their legal fees.
The SOA's monitoring center said water quality at four stations located near the scallop breeding areas was acceptable. But the fishermen say that they can still see black oil washing up on the beach.
"Two strong tides, heavy rains and sunlight reduced some of the pollution. We just think the monitoring center did not test the water at the right time or the right place," fisherman Zhang Yutian said.
Fishermen from Tangshan in the province said they believe the scallops they were raising along the shores were poisoned by contamination from oil spills in the Penglai 19-3 oilfield in the Bohai Bay.
The oilfield is jointly operated by a Chinese subsidiary of US-based oil company ConocoPhillips and its partner, the China National Offshore Oil Corp.
The North Sea branch of the State Oceanic Administration announced on August 3 that the bay had been contaminated with fuel oil.
Economic losses of the fishermen are believed to be between 150 million yuan and 170 million yuan (US$23.5 million to US$26.6 million), as more than half of the scallops they raised have died, according to Yang Jizhen, president of the Laoting County Fishery Association.
"Each family (of fishermen) has been affected to a different extent. A more accurate figure will be calculated by November," Yang said.
Local authorities have not offered an explanation for the loss of the scallops, leading the fisherman to hire lawyers to sue ConocoPhillips, Yang said.
Three million yuan have been raised by the 153 families of fishermen who are planning to sue the company, according to Yang. The money will be used to cover their legal fees.
The SOA's monitoring center said water quality at four stations located near the scallop breeding areas was acceptable. But the fishermen say that they can still see black oil washing up on the beach.
"Two strong tides, heavy rains and sunlight reduced some of the pollution. We just think the monitoring center did not test the water at the right time or the right place," fisherman Zhang Yutian said.
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