SHANGHAI'S tap water from freshwater plants on the Huangpu River is now com-pletely safe after a massive clean-up of a near-disastrous oil spill near Wujing in Minhang District.

　　"Residents should feel fully secure about using tap water but people living near the spill had better not eat fish caught in the affected water," said Zhang Quan, deputy director of Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau.

　　Zhang said the clean-up had achieved international standards of freshwater safety and this had been confirmed by foreign experts.

　　The destruction of fish and aquatic species in the water was still being evaluated but the restoration of contaminated wet lands would take a lot longer, he said.

　　After the maritime accident that caused the oil spill on August 5, the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau and Shanghai Water Authorities sent more than 40 experts to make round-the-clock observations of a nearly 30-kilometre-long stretch of the river.

　　The bureau will continue to monitor water quality and provide a continuous stream of data to the Shanghai Maritime Authority which is responsible for cleaning up the oil spill.

　　Ma Jun, deputy director of the Wujing Maritime Office, said his office would not slacken in its efforts to keep a close watch on the situation although he felt much more relieved now.

　　Devastating location

　　Deputy General Secretary Zhang Huimin of the municipal Party committee said the accident that caused the leakage of 94 tons of diesel oil into the Huangpu River was the most serious pollution incident in Shanghai since Liberation in 1949.

　　Chen Xiaoguang, director of the Division of Dangerous Goods Control and Pollution Prevention said: "That is not because of the amount of the spill but because it was quite near the freshwater source for 70 per cent of local residents."

　　In the 1990s, several smaller spills occurred, either in the Huangpu River or at the mouth of the Yangtze River, but they had not required as much manpower in the clean up operations.

　　By the time the ship "Changyang" had reported to the authorities in the early hours of August 5 that a small boat had collided with it causing an oil storage tank to rupture, the oil was already spreading out of control.

　　The oil spill initially covered about 10 kilometres of the river and coastal wet lands.

　　Soon after the accident, Party Secretary Chen Liangyu directed all relevant departments to give the event top priority, to find out the cause and who was responsible, to protect the water and the environment and to ensure that a similar incident could not occur again.

　　To prevent the oil spill spreading upriver and to protect freshwater sources before the arrival of the next peak tide due on August 15 (18 of the Seventh Month according to the Chinese lunar year), the city launched a massive operation on August 10.

　　A dozen departments were called in to support the clean-up, including 5,485 soldiers, 710 professional cleaners and 267 maritime staff, all fully equipped to deal with the problem.

　　The planned three-day operation ended on the morning of August 12, a half-day ahead of schedule. A total of 375.5 tons of oil-affected sewage, 1,960 tons of contaminated seaweed and 426 tons of other polluted waste had been removed.

　　The quick success of the operation was strong proof that Shanghai could handle such emergencies successfully, top city officials said.

　　Huge cost

　　Chen Xiaoguang said the success "owes so much to the well-disciplined and efficient armed police and the army."

　　China Shipping Logistics Co Ltd, the owner of the "Changyang", has offered 12 million yuan (US.45 million) in a credit loan to fund the emergency operation to contain the oil spill and will be obliged to offer more as the massive clean-up involved so much manpower and material.

　　Some participants in the clean-up have been paid but the final cost has not yet been calculated.

　　The Shanghai Water Authority, the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau and the Shanghai Fishing Administration Office will all be seeking compensation for the damaged water environment, Chen Xiaoguang said.

　　In some areas of the river, fish frogs and crabs could be seen.

　　As the oil had penetrated deep into the mud, in some seriously affected areas such as Wujing Park and the wharf of a timber company, between 30 and 50 centimetres of mud and earth had to be removed before clean soil was reached.

　　Coastal enterprises are likely to claim compensation too.

　　"Luckily, the ship belongs to a large company and has insurance. Otherwise, only the government would pay the bill," Chen said.

　　Future lessons

　　Though China has a very large shipping fleet, the country has not worked out a complete water disaster emergency operation or a comprehensive ship pollution compensation system.

　　"Without a system or a fund, it is impossible to make full compensation by solely depending on the maritime authority," Chen said.

　　In other parts of the world there are mature related pacts and funds to deal with such events. And to reduce the damage, the European Union has forbidden single-hull oil tankers entering its waters.

　　"It is quite likely that those banned ships will come to China and pose more pollution threats. So we have to work out effective counter-measures," Chen said.

　　As the Maritime Authority has been warned by city leaders to take steps to prevent a similar incident in the future, it is now developing strict regulations to safeguard water traffic on the Huangpu River.

　　"We are likely to be issuing regulations such as compulsory piloting, compulsory insurance and no voyages at night to prevent accidents in the river," Chen said.

　　The identity of the boat involved in the collision remains unknown and the "trouble maker" is still at large.

　　Chen said the small boat which collided with the "Changyang" probably came from neighbouring Zhejiang Province as witnesses reported seeing the character "Zhe" (the abbreviation of the province) on the boat.

　　The Maritime Authority, local police and police in Shanghai's two neighbouring provinces are now engaged in a joint search to find the boat.

　　But as the river near Wujing has more than 30 outlets leading to the water networks of Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, the search won't be easy. (By--Jane Tian)