Oil leak killing scallops, farmers say

A spreading oil leak from an oilfield in the Bohai Bay of the Yellow Sea has killed large number of scallops, fisheries in north China's Hebei province said.

ConocoPhillips, operator of Penglai 19-3 oilfield, and China's oceanic administration have been trying to control the spread of the oil leak discovered in June, China Daily reported.

"Because of the leak, about 70 percent of the scallops seedlings in Laoting county [in Hebei province] have been found dead since late June, and the total economic loss for the local fishing industry is expected to reach 350 million yuan [$54 million]," Yang Jizhen of the Laoting fisheries association told China Daily.

Yang said he planned to join local fishers in filing a lawsuit against ConocoPhillips and its partner, China National Offshore Oil Corp.

The report also quoted an official of the Laoting aquatic product bureau as confirming the loss of the scallops but whether they died from the leak was being probed.

Houston-based ConocoPhillips has estimated up to about 2,000 barrels of oil and oil-based drilling fluids had seeped into the sea from the oilfield, China Daily reported. Production has since been shut down at two of the oilfield's platforms.