A petrochemical leak on Sunday from an aging hose pipe at Quanzhou, South China's Fujian Province, was under control within 18 hours; environmental tracking and monitoring in the area is still being watched closely by local environmental protection authorities.

At 1:13 am on November 4, a petrochemical leak occurred at the sea hose, which connected the dock when the Fujian Donggang Petrochemical Company was carrying out the C9 shipment.

After being reported by residents, the Quanzhou Environmental Protection Bureau and Fujian Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment organized forces and cooperated with municipal governments in emergency response work. Staff from the Eastern China inspection bureau of the Ministry of Ecological Environment arrived at the site to maintain quality on November 5.

Local environmental protection authorities launched an emergency clean-up operation to absorb the chemical from the water, working with local maritime authorities. Under the emergency environmental incident plan, the local authorities rushed more than 100 ships, roped in more than 600 personnel, and dispatched 600 bags of linoleum to absorb the chemical.

The oil spills in the sea have now basically cleaned-up, according to local maritime administration.

The maritime administration also dealt with the affected fish breeding industry, to guarantee the safety of sea food.

The local environmental protection authorities guided and supervised the collection of the dangerous wastes at the scene, to avoid a second contamination.

The local environmental protection authorities enhanced the monitoring of the air quality. They are releasing real-time data for residents to review online.

Around 6.97 tons of byproducts from petroleum refining leaked from a docked ship. The liquid chemical was being transferred from the vessel through an aging hosepipe. The incident occurred at around 1 am on November 4, threatening to contaminate a vast patch of sea water.