China pinpoints cause of pipeline blast

BEIJING, July 23 (UPI) -- The improper use of a desulfurizing agent injected into a pipeline on the coast of China led to a cascading series of explosions, Chinese officials said Friday.

An explosion in an oil pipeline last Friday ignited fires in harbor-side storage tanks and caused a significant spill of oil into area waters. The official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday that cleanup crews were working to prevent the slick for spreading to international waters.

The Ministry of Transportation said an unnamed "catalyst" had been added to a storage tank, triggering an explosion that spilled 1,500 tons of crude oil into the harbor.

A state administration on work safety said Friday that workers from a Shanghai company improperly injected a desulfurizing agent into the pipeline during oil unloading, causing the July 16 explosion, Xinhua reports.

The BBC said Wednesday the oil slick from the accident covered more than 165 square miles of water.

Dalian Port Co. said in a written statement that the shipping operations that had been suspended were getting back to normal, except in the area around the terminal where crude oil is unloaded.

Dalian, located in northeastern China, is China's largest crude-receiving port.