About 85 tons of oil on the Huangpu River has been cleared since a spill following a ship collision on August 5.

An unidentified small boat hit the cargo vessel "Changyang," which moored in Huangpu early that day.

The accident resulted in an oil slick 200 meters long by 20 meters wide and the small boat responsible disappeared into the darkness after the accident.

The slick had expanded to five square kilometers by Monday, only 10 kilometers away from the Songpu Bridge water source, which provides 80 percent of the drinking water for Shanghai.

More than 30 vessels have been dispatched to encircle the polluted area and over 100 have been cleaning the river using special equipment.

About 4,660 meters of coastline has been cleaned and 93 tons of oil-contaminated wastes have been collected in one-and-a-half days, and all the spilled oil will be cleared by Monday night, said the project headquarters.

The area where the oil leaked was near major water plants catering to the city but no pollution has been detected by the municipal water distribution and monitoring center so far.

The Huangpu River flows eastward through the heart of Shanghai, China's most important industrial and commercial center, and empties into the East China Sea.

It was said the most serious oil leak accident in Shanghai since 1996.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2003)