Firefighters quick to prevent leakage

• Source: Global Times
• [02:04 July 26 2010]
• Comments

When the fire ignited, the tank's valve was closed, which prevented an explosion and kept the fire from spreading.

Wang Xibo, director of the Huizhou Environmental Protection Bureau, said that a special technology team, including law enforcement officials and pollution monitors, were dispatched to the scene as soon as the accident happened.

"From the inspection results, we found that all waste water was directed into a monitoring pool and no oil spill was detected. The air quality was up to standard, which means the accident caused no pollution in the local environment," he said.

The cause of the accident was still under investigation.

Huizhou Party secretary Huang Yebin and Mayor Li Ruqiu ordered that special attention should be paid to the accident and that the cause should be quickly determined.

"Post-accident work such as daily safety management and worker safety training should be implemented to prevent a similar accident from happening again," Dong Xiali, general manager of CNOOC at Huizhou oil refinery subsidiary, told China News Services Sunday.

He added that an investigative team was trying to determine the cause.

On July 16, a pipeline explosion in Dalian, a port city in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, created a massive oil spill in the Yellow Sea.

Over 1,000 fishing boats were mobilized to join the cleanup operation at sea. Meanwhile, a great number of volunteers came to the shore to clear up crude oil.