Real victims struggle to get compensation
No matter how fierce the war of words gets between COPC, the SOA and the CNOOC, the real victims of the disaster are the fishermen, who have not only suffered great losses but are also finding it hard to get compensation.
Though the maritime authority says it is preparing to file lawsuits on behalf of the fishermen, environmental lawyers argue that the move may be a trick to quiet the complaints.
Few multinational companies would take on the government in court, said the attorneys, adding that such cases usually get settled quietly as political or diplomatic issues.
Civil claims may also be a struggle, as it is not easy for the fishermen to obtain clear evidence, and the local government is likely to intervene, analyzed Century Weekly.
In 2010, when oil spills took place at the northeastern port of Dalian, Liaoning Province, the local government prevented fishermen from directly making compensation claims against China National Petroleum.
As a result, through government mediation the fishermen received limited compensation--much less than their losses.
Reporters from Century Weekly found that officials in Changli, Hebei Province, currently do not support local fishermen who wish to claim compensation.
According to Li Xiuting, a fisherman, since mid June a great number of scallops have died, and drops of oil have been found inside their shells. Li said he and other fishermen are quite concerned about the real causes and hope to get compensated somehow.
The SOA stated that on July 18, oil spilled from the Penglai 19-3 oilfield was spotted in water near the Golden Beach in Changli.
Wang Youxiang, director of the Changli Aquaculture Association, had been collecting evidence in a bid to sue COPC and the CNOOC.
But on August 29, Wang told Century Weekly that he had decided to give up the lawsuit. "I have spent 2,000 yuan on lawyers, but the local governments will not allow me to do this," said Wang.
Potential risks
"Such an accident is not the first, and it will not be the last. There may even be worse ones in the future," commented Wang Shicheng, former deputy chief of the Department of Ocean and Fisheries of Shandong province and an environmental activist.
Without advanced deep-sea drilling technology, such as the US and the UK have, China has settled most of its drilling platforms in Bohai, where water is relatively shallow, which increases the risks for leakage and other accidents, said Wang.
Wang added that he has been worried about the Bohai Sea since the Japan Earthquake. "I am not an earthquake expert, but I know the Bohai is located above the seismic belt. With so many oil fields, will there be more disastrous spills?"
In the early 1990s, Wang proposed to explore the South Sea and the East Sea first, while leaving the Bohai to later generations due to its delicate marine ecosystem, a suggestion that was soundly ignored.
Statistics show that in 2005, 14% of the Bohai's water was polluted. The proportion rose sharply to 22% in 2010.
