(cache) Cleaning Dalian harbor - The Big Picture

Cleaning Dalian harbor

The oil spill resulting from a pipeline explosion in the port city of Dalian on July 16th [see previous entry] is being cleaned up by a small army of fisherman, locals, and government workers manning over 250 oil-skimming vessels and 8,000 fishing boats - much of the work being done by hand. The spill, now contained according to authorities, grew to 430 square kilometers (165 sq mi), but was prevented from fouling international waters. The explosion was due to improper desulfurizer injections into the pipeline, according to a report by Xinhua, China's state news agency. As workers continue their efforts and watchdog groups like Greenpeace level criticism for what they call an inadequate response to date, Dalian Port has already resumed operations at two of its oil berths, the company said on Sunday. (38 photos total)

A worker cleans up oil at the oil spill site in the port near Dalian, China on July 23, 2010. Fuel exports remain temporarily halted, industry officials said amid continuing efforts to clean up an oil spill at the country's major port of Dalian. (REUTERS/Stringer)

Workers clean up oil spilled into Dalian Port, China on July 27, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

A fisherman cleans up oil, placing oiled material into barrels near Dalian, China on July 23, 2010. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace) #

A worker paddles his boat as he cleans up oil at an oil spill site near Dalian Port, China on July 27, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

A fisherman scrapes his hands across the top of a barrel while cleaning part of an oil spill site in Dalian, China on July 23, 2010. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace) #

Local fisherman scoop spilled oil from the surface of the water at the fishing village of Nantuo in Dalian, China on July 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Jiang He) #

Local fishermen rest near pods of retrieved oil as they clean up oil which has spread far from the original explosion site in Xingang port, Dalian, northeastern China on July 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Jiang He) #

A local fisherman works to clean up oil spilled into Dalian port in northeastern China on July 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Jiang He) #

A fisherman works aboard a boat floating in an oil-covered port in Dalian, China on July 23, 2010. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace) #

A boat travels through oil sheens from the oil spill site at a fishing port, where oil scooped from the sea is ferried for storing, in Dalian, Liaoning province on July 24, 2010. (REUTERS/Arthur JD/Greenpeace) #

Local fishermen ferry recovered oil from the spill site at Dayugou port in Dalian, Liaoning province July 25, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

Local fishermen work to haul recovered oil in barrels near Xingang port, Dalian, northeastern China on July 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Jiang He) #

A worker arranges containers filled with oil cleaned up from the oil spill site at Beilianggang port in Dalian, Liaoning province July 24, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

A man walks past barrels of oil scooped from the sea in Dalian, China on July 24, 2010. (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Arthur JD) #

An oil-covered fisherman rests next to containers filled with oil cleaned up from the spill site at a port in Dalian, Liaoning province July 25, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

Fishermen scoop oil from the spill site in Dalian, Liaoning province, China on July 25, 2010. (REUTERS/Arthur JD/Greenpeace) #

A fisherman drinks while cleaning up oil in Dalian on July 23, 2010. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace) #

A pigeon walks on an oily surface near Xinghai Bay seashore in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province on Monday, July 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Yao Jianfeng) #

A worker scoops oil from the spill site near Dalian Port, Liaoning province on July 26, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

Left: A woman waits to unload drums containing oil recovered from sea in the port city of Dalian, China on July 27, 2010. (LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images) - Right: An oil soaked Chinese woman looks up as she takes part in a clean up work at the Ganjingzi bay polluted by the oil spill in Dalian, China on July 26, 2010. (AP Photo) #

People walk along the coast affected by the oil spill in Dalian on July 26, 2010. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace) #

Workers carry a container filled with oil collected at the spill site near Dalian Port on July 27, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

A worker looks at his body stained with the oil next to buckets of oil recovered from water in the port city of Dalian, China on July 26, 2010. (LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images) #

Tourists rest beside protective booms which were placed to control leaked oil at the Fujia Bay bathing beach in Dalian, China on July 26, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

A worker stands next to containers filled with recovered oil from the spill site near China's Dalian port on July 22, 2010. (REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace) #

Fishermen clean up oil near Dalian Port, Liaoning province on July 27, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

A worker shows his feet stained with oil in the port city of Dalian on July 26, 2010. (LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images) #

A fisherman transports drums containing recovered oil in the port city of Dalian, in China's Liaoning province on July 27, 2010. (LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images) #

A laborer scoops oil from the surface of Dalian port on July 22, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

A worker removes oil from the surface of Dalian port on July 23, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

Workers clean up oil from the water at a dock in the port city of Dalian, China on July 27, 2010. (LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images) #

Fishermen scoop up oil sludge on the coast of Dalian, China on July 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Jiang He) #

Chinese workers lay out absorbent material to soak up oil at Ganjingzi Bay, polluted by the oil spill in Dalianon July 26, 2010. (AP Photo)#

A fisherman collects seaweed covered with oil at the spill site near Dalian on July 27, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

Seashells coated with oil by the shore in Dalian on July 26, 2010. (REUTERS/Arthur JD/Greenpeace) #

A worker cleans up oil washed onto a beach near the spill site in Dalian on July 27, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer/Sheng Li) #

Workers clean oil from a beach using hand tools and heavy equipment near the oil spill site in Dalian on July 27, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

A worker pours oil that he scooped up from the spill with a helmet into an oil drum, near Dalian port on July 22, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #