Villagers Loot Diesel From Leaking Oil Pipeline In Shandong

A scene most commonly seen in Africa, and often with disastrous results, hundreds of opportunistic villagers in Shandong Province took to the chance of grabbing free oil resulted from a oil leak. The story drew both sympathies toward the poverty stricken villagers in contrast to rich oil companies, but also disapproval of the low human qualities exhibited through the stealing.

From KDNET:

Shandong Province Liaocheng City oil pipeline leak, hundreds of villagers in water scooping oil

On the 15th [of September], in the suburb of Liaocheng City (Shandong Province) a oil leak occurred at a oil pipeline causing large amount of refined diesel to spill out, hundreds of villagers in the vicinity used tools to siphon oil. With the stringent handling from both the fire department and the oil transportation management, by 1pm that afternoon, the pipe leakage was effectively blocked.

On the morning of the 15th, reporters hurried to the location of the incident at the office of Beitie Village on Yanshi Street, there they discovered that the scene was already blocked-off by the police, two fire trucks parked on the street awaiting orders. The place where the leak occurred was located next to the bank of a small river; around 500 meters of the river floated a thick layer of oil slick. The hundred or so villagers from the few villages in the vicinity surrounded the two banks of the river, using scoops, washing pans, and other tools, to scoop oil from the river. Some villagers directly went into the river using buckets to haul oil. According to the descriptions from the villagers scooping oil at the scene, the morning of the 15th at around 4am, Villagers in the area discovered a pipeline next to the river at Beitie village developed a leak, around 6am; about a hundred people flanked the river with tools to scoop oil. After hearing the news about the leak, villages from several kilometers away also arrived to scoop for oil.

According to the fire department, the morning of the 15th at around 9am, after they received the emergency call they hurried to the scene, together with police they immediately began to disperse the villagers scooping oil. Because the leakage involved refined diesel fuel, the fire department immediately took fire prevention measures, at the same time working with the oil transportation company to help stop the leakage. At around 1pm that day, the workers at the pipeline company successfully blocked the leakage. At the present the reason for this leak is still under investigation.

After the incident, Liaocheng city, Dongchangfu district second tier police, fire department, work safety and other departments swiftly arrived at the scene to lead the recovery efforts. The local public safety bureau dispatched its entire police force to the scene to maintain order, in addition to setting up police caution tapes to control the traffic from oncoming cars. At the same time, Liaocheng city government, Dongchangfu district government and related officials all arrived at the scene to lead the recovery efforts.

Comments from KDNET:

不服删你ID:

I’m seeing the support everyone has toward environmental protection, and the love for the river!

gx1289:

Compared to Africa’s Rwanda, Ethiopia, etc., this situation is not different.

rawkohu:

Several hundred villagers…from the look of it must be thousands.

注册顶宝马:

Thank the greater masses, only because of their cleaning efforts at the first moment, did it prevent the further damage to the environment. All those at the oil company should hand over environmental damage fees.

灌水专用马甲:

Certain types of government will create certain types of people.

鱼子非1:

Not long ago, didn’t the media mock the Nigerian people for looting from leaking pipelines?

第八营养素:

Sinopec’s oil, it is there, why not take it?

zmp003:

Police and fire department, just let the people have some joy from this rare occasion.

在黑暗中沉思:

Three thousand years of civilization, in reality is not that different from Africa.

cswb:

If somebody started to smoke, then these people will become roasted pigs.

实名:

Risking their life, controlling environmental pollution.

修仁崽:

Looting – an excellent tradition of the Chinese people.

泼凉水:

PetroChina and Sinopec loot money every day, why not give us the chance to scoop some?

昌明隆盛之邦:

This represent the progress of society, if everybody support protecting the Nation’s wealth and not take any of it, wait until some company or agency spend and clean out the people’s money then sell it to them at high prices. Then, China will never have hope.

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