Environmental impact and recovery of the Bohai Sea following the 2011 oil spill

  • Yujue Wang
  • , Kenneth Lee
  • , Dongyan Liu*
  • , Jie Guo
  • , Qiuying Han
  • , Xihan Liu
  • , Jingjing Zhang
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

59 Scopus citations

Abstract

The 2011 spill at platforms B and C of the Penglai 19-3 oil field in the Bohai Sea has been the worst oil spill accident in China. To assess long-term effects, a comprehensive monitoring program of chemical and biological variables (within a 2.2 km radius of the spill site) was conducted five years after the spill. Comparison of nutrient, Chl-a and oil concentrations in seawater, TOC, PAHs, heavy metals concentrations within the sediments, and the abundance and biomass of macrobenthic organisms to values obtained before and after the oil spill in previous studies indicate habitat recovery has occurred within the Bohai Sea following the episodic oil release. Observed elevated oil concentration in the water column and higher concentrations of two heavy metals, five PAHs, TOC, TOC/TN and lower values of δ13C, together with a reduction in macrobenthic biomass in near-field samples, suggest the influence of contaminants from chronic releases of oil and operational waste discharges within the vicinity of the oil platforms.

Original languageEnglish
Article number114343
JournalEnvironmental Pollution
Volume263
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2020

Keywords

  • Bohai sea
  • Environmental impacts
  • Habitat recovery
  • Oil spill
  • Penglai 19-3

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