Bearing Witness to the Dalian Oil Spill, China
Zhong Yu of Greenpeace bears witness to the Dalian oil spill (Photo: Greenpeace)
Twenty-two years ago, when my high school classmates unfolded a banner with the words “Save Our Seas!”, we put the Greenpeace logo on the banner. At that time, we were protesting marine debris littering the coasts of Dalian.
Now, twenty-two years since that unofficial Greenpeace banner hung in 1988, Dalian received its first official support from Greenpeace with the deployment of several Greenpeace teams to respond to the massive oil spill in Dalian.
Zhong Yu, senior action coordinator with Greenpeace China, was not prepared for what she saw nor for what she would encounter. Like many clean up workers and local fishermen, Zhong did not wear protective gear when she walked into thick crude oil along the beach. The photo of her wearing a red Greenpeace T-shirt and blue jeans was the first telling image from Greenpeace bearing witness to the Dalian disaster.
Locals are collecting leaked crude oil (Photo: Greenpeace)
Zhong and her teammates paid the price. After the first few days on the site, they started to feel sick, and what they saw on the sea shocked them. Thousands of fishermen and locals floated their boats at sea collecting leaked crude oil, few wore protective gear and almost no one was wearing masks.
Zhong’s team quickly purchased facial masks and tried to distribute them to the clean-up workers. For the local villagers, fishery officials and policemen patrolling the area, it was their first time learning that the chemicals from crude oil pose severe health risks. Many of them helped Greenpeace with mask distribution. But even so, the knowledge and help came a bit too late.
Tags: China, Dalian oil spill, Energy, environment, fossil fuels, Marine, oil spill, pollution, Water
