China to protect Bohai Sea

BEIJING - China will enhance maritime surveillance for the ecological rehabilitation of the Bohai Sea, according to the national oceanic authority on Friday.

Regular patrols of the Bohai Sea by law enforcement vessels will be put into place, the focus of which will be examination of oil-gas practices, said a senior official with China Marine Surveillance.

Major tasks include inspection of maritime projects, offshore dumping and mariculture. The pollutants will be carefully monitored and controlled, and any economic activities without passing an environmental evaluation will be stopped, he said.

An emergency response mechanism to tackle the environmental accidents such as oil spills will be installed, he added.

The Bohai Sea suffered heavy pollution in 2011--over 6,200 square km of water in the bay was contaminated by an oil leak at the Penglai oilfield run by ConocoPhillips China, a subsidiary of U.S. energy giant ConocoPhillips.