ConocoPhillips Sued Over Oil Spill in China’s Bohai Bay

A Beijing lawyer has filed a precedent-setting environmental lawsuit in China against a Chinese state-owned oil company and its U.S. partner, ConocoPhillips China, over oil spill damage in China’s northeastern Bohai Bay.

Oil continued to leak from the Penglai 19-3 offshore oil field in Bohai Bay more than two months after the first spill incident. The oil field is jointly owned by state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and ConocoPhillips China (COPC), a subsidiary of Houston-based ConocoPhillips. COPC holds a 49 percent stake, and CNOOC holds the rest of the stake in the oil field.

Attorney Jia Fangyi has submitted a private lawsuit to three courts in Hainan, Shandong, and Hebei provinces on Aug. 9. Jia is asking that the two oil companies immediately stop polluting the environment and establish a 10 billion yuan (US$1.56 billion) compensation fund to clean up the pollution and restore the local ecology.

In an interview with Sound of Hope (SOH) Radio Jia said this is the first lawsuit in China involving public environmental interests, and its purpose is “to raise the attention of the public, media, judiciary, and government to collectively promote public interest litigation and prevent environmental pollution and damage.”

Jia said he has also sued the State Oceanic Administration for failing to inform the public about the disaster immediately after it happened, and instead concealing the spill and misleading the public.

Public not Informed

According to reports by Deutsche Welle and South China Morning Post, all three parties have been accused of deliberately covering up the spills for nearly a month after they occurred.

As oil spread to the beaches in Liaoning Province and Hebei Province in mid July, local authorities failed to warn the public about the ocean pollution and associated health risks.

An employee at the Ocean and Fishery Bureau of Suizhong County in Liaoning Province told The Epoch Times on July 20 that oil had been found in the area, but there were no warnings issued about swimming or eating seafood, or about fishing in shallow water.

Mr. Liang, a manager at the Repulse Bay beach in Jingtang Port in Hebei Province also told The Epoch Times that they had not received any notices from authorities.

“We get many tourists. Seafood has been consumed as usual, and the beach has been operating as usual,” Liang said.

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