Effects of Oil Spillage on the Dalian Population - Research Paper Example

Effects of oil spillage to the Dalian population Introduction Dalian is a major and seaport in the Northeast part of China, and it is a great entry route to China due to its many ports, besides being the country’s most industrialized areas; its coastline extends for nearly 1,906 km, and with its rich ancient history, the area is a major tourist destination among both domestic and foreign visitors from Japan, South Korea, and Russia. The city of Dalian has a population of nearly 6.13 million people, and its powerful economic growth track record over the years puts it among the leading Chinese cities in terms of overall economic strength. The Chinese annual consumption of oil and its allied resources has been on an upwards trend due to the rapid industrialization in places such as Dalian reaching heights of nearly 6.66% per annum (Lu, 2004). The aftermath of the catastrophic oil spillage had great repercussions for the Dalian population because it disrupted all their socioeconomic activities while negatively affecting their health and overall quality of lives adversely. The Dalian oil spillage, however, is not the only one to occur in the recent years since other great oil spills have been reported all over the world with equal devastating effects on the surrounding cities and populations; for instance, the Deep-Water Horizon crisis in the gulf is one of them (Lustgarten, 2012). This paper will explore the effects of the oil spillage on the Dalian population by highlighting the adverse negative impacts of the oil spillage on the environmental as well as the socio-economic aspects of life in the city. Precisely, this paper will highlight the manner in which the Dalian population was affected by the oil spillage in terms of the disruptions in their socioeconomic activities, particularly in crucial areas of the city’s economy such as in the tourism and fishing industries. Similarly, this paper will examine the effects of the oil spillage on the Dalian population in terms of its negative health effects as a result of the contamination of water sources and air by traces of oil following the spillage. Despite the numerous proactive disaster response initiatives taken by Chinese authorities to maintain the safety of human life and to stabilize the situation at the Xingang Port, the Dalian oil spillage resulted to adverse consequences not only for the environment, but also for the Dalian population (NTS Alert, 2010). Generally, the oil spillage resulted to adverse socioeconomic impacts, which greatly affected the lives of the population in the surrounding Dalian area; oil spillages cause widespread contamination of the environment, which in turn results to adverse socioeconomic impacts particularly in tourism and fishing industries (Pallone, 2010). Precisely, the contamination of the environment due to the oil spillage disrupted not only the livelihoods or the economic activities of these people, but also the social aspects of their lives since they were no longer able to enjoy their beaches which were heavily contaminated by the terrible oil spillage. The oil spillage in Dalian is undoubtedly the worst environmental hazard to ever occur in the city, thereby robbing the Dalian population a great deal of their environmental appeal and natural heritage as the oil contaminated not only their water but their soil and air; human activities have devastating impact on natural ecosystems and habitats (Burger, 1994). The leaks at the Yellow sea were spread even further by the winds and tides, which made the slick wider and thinner thereby covering an area of nearly 430 square kilometres; a vast majority of bays in the city were covered with dark oil that was half-solid, half-liquid, and as sticky as asphalt (Watts, 2010). From an environmental perspective, the oil spillage greatly affected the water quality, the aqua culture, and the sea birds because of oil has a high toxicity especially when as fresh as it was in this instance; the aqua culture ingested the oil through their foods and some of it went to their eyes thereby killing them (“Dalian oil supply operations resume as spill clean-up continues” 2010). Even the aqua culture that survived the toxicity of the oil were still affected in the long run since the injuries endured often manifest later in form of brain injury, organ damage, heart tissue damage, liver damage, as well as reproductive failure, among other dysfunctions and/or deformities, which in turn affect the animals’ reproduction, behaviour, feeding, and social organism. Besides the aqua culture that was harmed, the small plants and microorganisms in the water were greatly impacted by the Dalian oil spillage, which ended up killing them instantly; the entire population of Dalian city lost a great deal of their environmental appeal and heritage due to the devastation of their aqua culture, contributing to the pollution of nearly 48,000 square kilometres of China’s oceanic territory (Moxley, 2011). The fishing, as well as other marine resource extraction industries in the city of Dalian was dealt a heavy blow by the oil spillage since it resulted to the contamination of water thereby inhibiting marine life systems in general. For instance, oil spillages often contaminate the waters thereby not only killing fish but also rendering it unfit for consumption by the human population in the city since the fish had come into contact with and ingested the oil in the water (Cavna, 2010). The offshore shellfish farms in the Dalian city were not spared by the disastrous effects of the oil spillage either since they too, were contaminated by the oil, which ended up killing many of them and rendering the rest unfit for consumption accordingly. In that respect, the economic cost of the oil spillage to the fishermen and shellfish farmers in Dalian city was great to bear since the oil spillage resulted to significant losses of profits and businesses of these groups altogether (“China oil spill far bigger than stated” 2011). Furthermore, the Dalian population did not only lose their source of food, but also their source of livelihood as the fishing industry and other marine extraction industries plummeted due to the contamination of waters by the oil spillage. In other words, without a regular and health supply of fish and other marine sources of food, there was no business for the industries, and without trade for the industries, there was no work for the many employees who worked in those industries, thus, many people lost their jobs as a result of this windfall. Besides the deterioration of the fish and marine extraction industries, the Dalian tourism sector was equally hit with the negative effects of the oil spillage, especially because the environmental contamination that ensued as a result of the spillage resulted to the death of wildlife inhabiting the area that was exposed to the oil (“Dalian oil spill could taint environment for years” 2010). Furthermore, when the oil in the water began washing ashore on beaches, a vast majority of them were rendered unusable with immediate effect since any potential body contact with the oil would have been a health hazard. With the washing of the oil ashore on the beaches, tourists and tourist activities along the Dalian coastlines were disrupted thereby leading to heavy losses in terms of revenues from tourism; this great loss in the tourism sector was a major blow since it denied the city a vast amount of revenues from both domestic as well as international visitors. With the deterioration of the beaches and death of wildlife, as well as the consequent fall of the tourism sector, the Dalian population lost a great deal of jobs, thereby becoming thoroughly dependent. Nonetheless, the Dalian population’s leisure activities such as swimming or boat riding could no longer be carried out due to the contamination of the water with oil and besides that, the Dalian population could no longer enjoy their beaches due to the thorough contamination as a result of the oil spillage (Kuo, 2010). The Dalian oil spillage also lead to huge fires (Hogg, 2010), which in turn resulted to massive damage of property, homes, as well as businesses in the surrounding area of the port thereby leading to significant losses, which implies that the Dalian populations endured a lot of financial losses. Being a high industrial centre, the Dalian city is heavily populated with people and businesses alike, and this means that the fires caused massive damage to the industries in the vicinity of the port, thereby rendering a vast majority of the population jobless and homeless. Furthermore, the fires led to adverse air pollution in the surrounding area thus heavily affecting businesses in the vicinity as the oil residues spread far and wide through the air and wind; the implication of this was that plenty of the establishments in the surrounding area had to shut down and business was badly affected by this eventuality. The financial implications of the disruption of business in the surrounding area resulting to the closure of some was so huge as many businesses suffered unimaginable losses as they closed their doors in the event of the oil spillage to avoid further damage and exposure to the oil contamination. Besides that, the oil spillage also resulted to adverse health issues in the surrounding Dalian area since the populations endured a number of health complications after coming in contact with the contaminated water sources and air as a result of the oil spillage. The Dalian oil spillage resulted to widespread air pollution as the oil components were carried through the wind far and wide after the huge fires broke in the port thereby contaminating the air that the Dalian population was breathing. The Dalian people were inhaling the oil traces through the air thus ingesting the oil into their lungs and other delicate body organs or tissues, thereby predisposing themselves to a host of respiratory diseases and other deadly cancers in the areas of the body that had come in contact with the traces of the oil. Besides that, the air also came into contact with the skins of the Dalian populations, and since the oil traces can still be absorbed into the blood vessels through the skin, a vast majority of the Dalian populations endued a host of respiratory diseases among other skin infections such as skin cancer. The clean-up teams and the fishermen who participated in the operation were predisposed to a host of health complications since most of them did not wear protective gear in the process, thereby coming in direct contact with the oil (“China oil spill photos,” 2011); one of the firefighters drowned in the oil contaminated water and had to be rescued by his colleagues, and this unfortunate incident greatly impacted their health eventually. The health issues reduced the economic contribution of the Dalian populations since they could no longer participate effectively in economic activities due to their indisposition in the aftermath of the oil spillage; furthermore, they had to endure high health costs in treating the any health effects that arose due to contamination of the body through ingestion of the oil traces. Besides the air pollution, there was water and soil pollution, which in turn led to the contamination of food sources such as vegetation and animal food products; the oil residues were settling on plants and percolating in the soils on which the populations grew their crops through contaminated water thereby getting absorbed through the leaves and the roots of the plants. Animals were also ingesting the oil through vegetation, water and air, thus, in the end; both the water and food sources were also contaminated by the oil residues, which imply that both the quality of water and food that was used in the homes was adversely affected by the traces of the oil after the spillage. In that case, the Dalian populations were not only ingesting the oil through their drinking water but also through their food sources such as the crops and meat products which they were relying on for daily provisions in their homesteads and in their commercial food outlets. Overall, the health costs suffered by the Dalian populations due to the many health complications they endured was so high, and besides, the health provision facilities were further constrained by the high demand for health services in the aftermath of the oil spillage. The oil spillage inevitably impacted negatively on the entire image of the city thereby reducing its business potential and favourability with business investors, while some of the existing investors in the city eventually pulled out due to the large losses incurred during the spillage. The implication of these developments is loss of business opportunities, which in turn implies loss of jobs for the large Dalian population; being a huge investment and industrial centre in Northeast China, the city of Dalian has enjoyed great reputation as a business powerhouse in the region. The city’s favourable business environment as well as potential for growth of business is what has largely attracted many investors to set up their businesses in the area; however, the oil spillage has done more harm to the city than any good thereby scaring away all potential investors and prompting the existing ones to shift camp as well. In that respect, the population of the city of Dalian has been dealt a heavy blow that has left the entire city’s economic position in shackles thereby greatly impacting on the livelihoods of many; the quality of life in the city of Dalian has suddenly plummeted with the any cuts and job losses imposed on the city’s population due to the oil spillage. Overall, the oil spillage resulted to great negative effects to the entire city’s population since their socioeconomic aspects of life were altered completely and despite the clean-up initiatives that took place, full recovery from the devastating impacts of the spillage will take several years to come. A vast majority of the city’s population that depend on the sea for their livelihoods, especially in the marine extraction industries such as fishing lost their economic potential completely since they were no longer able to engage in those activities in the aftermath of the spillage, not until they were cleared to do so due to health considerations. Businesses in the city of Dalian were inevitably affected with the oil spillage which led to closure of many enterprises in the areas around the port as there were greater risk of damage with the flying fumes of oil and the contamination that had occurred soon after the spillage. The lost man hours resulted to huge business losses, besides the actual damages caused to property and homes as well as infrastructure in the port as a result of the huge fires that were sparked by the oil spillage. A permanent mark was inevitably left on the city’s environment and ecosystems, which had been the Dalian population’s pride for many years by attracting visitors from far and wide, since the oil spillage resulted to massive environmental degradation which will take years to clear off. The health effects on the population have also resulted to greater economic costs as the city’s population struggles with numerous health issues resulting from the contamination of their water, food and air. Overall, the effects of the oil spillage on the Dalian population have been large and gross, particularly because the entire population’s socioeconomic activities, particularly in crucial areas of the city’s economy such as in the tourism and fishing industries, were disrupted resulting to massive economic losses and stagnation. References Burger, J. (1994). Before and After an Oil Spill: The Arthur kill. NY: Rutgers. Cavna, B. (2010). Disaster on the Horizon: High stakes, high risks, and the story behind the deep water well blowout. VT: Chelsea Green Publishing. Lustgarten, A. (2012). Run to the future: BP and the making of the deep-water horizon disaster. NY: W.W. Norton & Company. Lu, H. (2004). Chinas strategic oil reserves and the establishment of the oil spill contingency system. Maritime Economics & Logistics, 6(4), 349-359.  Moxley, M. (2011). Environment: Pollution rising fast in chinas seas. Global Information Network. Pallone, F. (2010). 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