Huge oil spill in China

A massive oil spill following the pipeline fire at the port in Dalian, in Liaoning province, China, July 17, 2010 is believed to be much worse than first thought.  From 60,000 to 90,000 tons of oil have estimated to have been spilled into the Yellow Sea.

Local fishermen clean up oily sludge by from the contaminated beaches at Nanhaitun, Weitang Bay. (Jiang He/Greenpeace/MCT)

A worker scoops oil from the oil spill site near Dalian Port, Liaoning province July 26, 2010. REUTERS

A firefighter who was submerged in thick oil during an attempt to fix an underwater pump is brought ashore by his colleagues in Dalian, China on Tuesday, July 20, 2010.  (AP Photo/Jiang He, Greenpeace)

A labourer cleans up oil at the oil spill site near Dalian port, Liaoning province July 23, 2010.  REUTERS

A labourer scoops oil from an oil spill, near Dalian port, Liaoning province July 22, 2010. REUTERS

A Greenpeace activist surveys the damage caused by the oil spill at Dalian port in Liaoning province July 21, 2010. REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace

A worker shows his feet stained with oil in the port city of Dalian, in China's northeastern Liaoning province on July 26, 2010.  AFP PHOTO / LIU Jin

A pigeon walks on at Xinghai Bay seashore in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Monday, July 26, 2010.   AP Photo/Xinhua, Yao Jianfeng

An oil soaked Chinese woman looks up as she takes part in a clean up work at the Ganjingzi bay polluted by the oil spill in Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province. (AP Photo)

Fishermen scoop up oil sludge on the coast of Dalian, China.  Workers have cleaned some of the coastal waters polluted by China's largest reported oil spill, but the crude still fouling the beaches must be removed urgently, a local mayor said. AP Photo/Greenpeace, Jiang He

Local fishermen rest near pods of retrieved oil as they clean up the oil, which has spread far from the original explosion site in Xingang port, Dalian, northeastern China.  AP Photo/Greenpeace, Jiang He

A fishing boat cuts through an oil sheen at Dalian fishing port where oil scooped from the sea is being ferried and stored, in Dalian, China.  AP Photo/Greenpeace, Arthur JD

A  firefighter rushes to aid his colleague who ran into trouble amid thick oil cover as they attempted to fix an underwater pump in Dalian, China on Tuesday, July 20, 2010.  AP Photo/Jiang He, Greenpeace

A fisherman cleans up oil near an oil spill site in Dalian, Liaoning province July 23, 2010. A chemical agent used to strip sulphur from oil contributed to the pipeline blast at China's Dalian port last weekend, causing the huge oil slick in the sea and forcing the port's temporary closure, the country's work safety watchdog said in a preliminary report. REUTERS/Jiang He/Greenpeace

A worker cleans up the oil from the oil spill site at Dayugou port in Dalian, Liaoning province July 25, 2010. REUTERS

Seashells coated with oil caused by the oil spill are pictured by the shore in Dalian July 26, 2010.  REUTERS/Arthur J D/Greenpeace

Fishermen clean up oil at an oil spill site near Dalian Port, Liaoning province July 27, 2010.  REUTERS

A fisherman rests next to containers filled with oil cleaned up from the oil spill site at a port in Dalian, Liaoning province July 25, 2010.  REUTERS