国内英语新闻:China's maritime authority urges ConocoPhillips to clean up oil spills

BEIJING, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's maritime authority on Friday once again urged U.S. oil giant ConocoPhillips to finish cleaning up oil spills in north China's Bohai Bay as soon as possible.

Aug. 31 is the deadline set by the government. "There are only five days to go before the arrival of the deadline," said a statement of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA).

The SOA urged ConocoPhillips China to adopt all technical measures that could be used to clean up oil spills, and to do it "with an active manner."

Liu Cigui, head of the SOA, said Thursday that his administration is collecting evidence and gauging the ecological impact of the spills in preparation for possible legal action against the company.

ConocoPhillips China, a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, first reported the oil spills in June. The spills have spread to beaches in Hebei and Liaoning provinces and been blamed for losses in local tourism and aquatic farming industries.

Although the company has worked to clean up the spills, pollutants have still been found in the bay, even after cleanup efforts were reported to be complete.

ConocoPhillips China admitted that a total of 16 oil spill sources have been found in the bay as of Friday.