China says diesel oil spill under control

BEIJING, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A major oil leak that threatened one of China's most important sources of water is under control, official media said Sunday.

The state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua reported a diesel oil spill from a pipeline into a tributary of the Yellow River in Shaanxi province has been "has been taken under control" by the pipeline's owner, China National Petroleum Corp.

The Shaanxi provincial government reportedly said nearly 40,000 gallons of diesel oil had leaked from a branch of the Lanzhou-Zhengzhou-Changsha pipeline, which transports fuel from the China's northwest to its central regions.

Xinhua said the company immediately shut down the pipeline when the accident was discovered Wednesday, but not before "large amounts" of diesel fuel had spilled into the Chishui and Weihe rivers, the latter a major branch of the Yellow River.

The New York Times reported that the Yellow River is a source of water for approximately 140 million residents, and is vital to factories and farms throughout northern China.