Scaring Yongkang River - "7.15" Yongkang Major Oil Spill Accident Emergency Response Record

Zhang Zehong and Hu Wujun

Yongkang Writers Association, Yongkang 321300, China

Yongkang Zhongyi Environmental Pollution Emergency Control Team, Yongkang 321300, China

1、 Xianxi is in distress

Early morning of July 15th, 2016. Chen Rongcai from Ningbo Binhai Petrochemical Co., Ltd. is driving Zhejiang B Tank truck H6792 is loaded with 18 tons of lubricating oil and is driving on the G25 Changshen (Jinliwen) highway. When he was about 1 kilometer away from the Yongkang toll station near Fudian Village Bridge, he suddenly heard an irregular abnormal noise from the car, and the body of the car suddenly shook. He instinctively slammed on the brakes and the tanker truck stopped on the emergency lane on the roadside. Chen Rongcai got off the car for inspection and saw that the oil outlet pipe at the bottom of the tank was broken, and the oil was rushing onto the road. Oil flows along the slope of the highway towards the drainage ditch below the road slope. The drainage ditch is connected to the local farmland irrigation diversion canal, and one end of the canal is connected to a small stream. He leaned down to look under the dim light, and was immediately scared out of a cold sweat: it turned out that the transmission shaft of the car was broken in two, and one of the broken shafts broke through the valve of the oil tank unloading pipe. The engine oil is gushing out from the front end of the oil discharge pipe valve. Chen Rongcai panicked and dialed the company's phone number, but it was late at night and the company couldn't be reached for a while. Chen Rongcai hurriedly took off his T-shirt and stuffed it into the oil outlet pipe at the bottom of the tank. The crack was longitudinal, and a T-shirt was useless. He took off all his pants and clothes, and wrapped up the leaking oil pipeline. But the oil pollution still flows towards the road surface and the roadside ditches.

Chen Rong was unaware that the small stream under the bridge not far from his car was called Yongxiang Creek, also known as Xianxi; Originating from the valley at the northern foot of Maling, located at the border of Yongkang, Wuyi, and Jinyun counties, it is the source of the Qianjiang River system and connects the Fuchun River and Qiantang River. It is like a pure green ribbon of a fairy, with a fairy like aura extending between the villages and fields of Yongxiangkeng. Yongxiang River was once one of the rivers with water quality of Class III-V, and after several years of treatment, the water in the river is clear to the bottom. There are tens of thousands of villagers living in more than ten villages on both sides of Yongxiang River. The stream nurtures these villagers and nourishes thousands of acres of fertile land. It stretches for more than thirty miles, flowing from Fudian and Xiweng to the vicinity of Wengbu and merging into Lixi and Wuyi Rivers. Unlike other major rivers in China that flow eastward, Yongkang has a terrain that is higher in the east and lower in the west. The Yongkang River flows westward into the Wuyi River, then turns nine or a thousand times before merging into the Wu River, Lan River, Fuchun River, and Qiantang River before heading towards the East China Sea. At this time, the city of Hangzhou on the banks of the Qiantang River is busy preparing for the largest international conference since the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the highest reception standards and security levels - the 2016 Hangzhou G20 Summit. In order to hold this conference well, the entire province of Zhejiang, as well as surrounding provinces and cities such as Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Fujian, have cooperated with Zhejiang to make every effort to ensure security and guarantee the success of the G20 summit. Imagine, at a critical moment before the summit, these 18 tons of blue liquid lubricating oil flowed down the Wuyi River and Lanjiang River, drifting to the banks of the Qiantang River. If it alarmed the central leadership and experts from around the world who participated in the preparation of the international conference, what kind of adverse political impact would it have? Will the concept of China's environmental ecology proposed at the G20 summit be questioned? This is a more serious sudden disaster event than the phenol leak that occurred in Fuchun River 5 years ago!

Zhejiang Province has experienced a sudden environmental pollution disaster that alarmed Anhui, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. On June 4, 2011, a chemical tanker truck leaked 22 tons of phenol at a distance of 5 kilometers from the Fuchun River on the Hangzhou Xinjing Expressway. Due to the limitations of outdated emergency response plans at the time, emergency rescue personnel used traditional methods such as sand filling, water washing, and lime neutralization for disposal. In addition, due to the rainstorm scouring, the leaked chemicals slowly infiltrated into the Fuchun River coast through the gravel soil layer a few days later. According to Qianjiang Evening News, the accident caused water difficulties for 450000 residents along the Jiande, Tonglu, and Fuyang rivers, polluted aquatic animals and plants along the river, and caused economic losses of hundreds of millions of yuan, including social panic.

If the emergency response is not handled properly, could this inconspicuous small river oil spill incident in Yongkang City lead to more serious environmental pollution and political consequences than the Hangzhou Xinjing Expressway? Is this the butterfly that started at the end of Qingping and triggered the Western Pacific storm? Will the People's Government of Yongkang City and the people of Yongkang, with a strong sense of political responsibility, capture this butterfly and prevent disasters and accidents before they occur?

Chen Rongcai, an ordinary driver, was completely unaware of the potential connection between the development of the accident and the highly anticipated Hangzhou G20 Summit, which involved sharing honor and disgrace. He forgot to call the police in a timely manner. Observing the terrain, the oil has flowed down the slope into the water diversion canal under the road. He climbed down the slope in a row, and at the end of the channel, he dug up some soil and debris with his hands and feet, and built a miniature earth dam. He wants this earth dam to contain the oil spill, and when the company's oil pumping truck arrives, he can pump it back, which can also reduce the losses for him and the company. Slowly, about 30 centimeters of oil gathered in the 50 meter long channel. Unconsciously, several hours passed and the sky lit up. The Jinhua Fourth Squadron of Zhejiang Provincial Highway Traffic Police discovered this abnormal situation during their inspection and immediately took half road closure measures, dialing the emergency hotline of Zhejiang Provincial Highway.

2、 The pollution hazards of oil spill accidents on rivers and marine environments

At 7:50 am. After several rounds of phone calls, the emergency response and disposal instructions for the oil spill accident were finally issued to the environmental pollution emergency treatment and rescue team affiliated with Yongkang Zhongyi Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. through Lv Ziyun, the 110 emergency linkage leader of Yongkang Public Security Bureau.

It is worth mentioning that the Environmental Pollution Emergency Management and Rescue Team of Zhongyi Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. was established in 2014; It is a social organization established under the guidance of the emergency response offices of the second level people's governments of Jinhua and Yongkang, with the responsibility of addressing environmental hazards and emergency rescue. Zhongyi Company is a company that possesses inert adsorption materials for oil and chemical spills; A new material company that specializes in patented product technologies such as FG adsorption particles, oil containment booms, and adsorption pads. The company was included in the list of oil spill emergency material production and reserve enterprises compiled and printed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2013; In 2012, the Maritime Safety Administration of China filed a permit for the use of Zhongyi FG chemical adsorption particles as emergency disposal reserve materials for chemical spills and environmental pollution caused by marine vessels. The company has a regular emergency material reserve of 100 tons, which can meet the rescue needs of a one-time oil spill of 500 tons or other chemical leakage accidents. It is a new social force in our city's water and land oil spill emergency rescue system. Since its establishment, the emergency rescue team has actively responded to and participated in oil spill emergency response activities in Yongkang City's urban sewage treatment plant, Buyang Group, Sifang Group, Jinhua and other places, in addition to participating in the construction of the maritime bureau's oil spill material reserve warehouse. We can provide comprehensive solutions for oil and chemical leakage accidents, including interception, control, and cleaning, for enterprises and institutions both inside and outside the province. Under multiple guidance and drills from the emergency offices of Jinhua and Yongkang, I have gained practical experience. On April 20, 2018, I was invited to participate in the Zhejiang Province 2018 Emergency Linkage Practical Exercise and received guidance and praise from the attending experts. Won the title of exemplary organization of Emergency Linkage 2018 Practical Drill in Zhejiang Province.

The establishment of this emergency response team stems from the company's chairman Huang Jianshe's sense of social responsibility for ecological environment protection. Huang Jianshe is 1.80 meters tall, with a square face with sharp edges, and wears a pair of glasses with deep myopia. I love reading, am good at thinking, dare to think, dare to act, and dare to make decisions. He was an employee of the Agricultural Materials Company of Yongkang Supply and Marketing Cooperative System in his early years. In 1992, he founded the Agricultural Chemistry Research Institute. In 1998, he became the director of the state-owned enterprise Yongkang Pesticide Factory, which was transformed into a joint-stock cooperative system. He produced his own Chinese patented herbicide products. He was highly concerned about the impact of oil spills on environmental pollution, which began with a marine oil spill in China in 1999. On March 24 of that year, the oil tanker "Min Tan Gong 2" in Xiamen Port, Fujian Province collided with the ship "Dong Hai 209" in the Lingding waterway at the mouth of the the Pearl River. The damaged hull of "Min Tan Gong 2" sank, spilling 589.7 tons of heavy oil, and more than 300 square kilometers of sea area and 55 kilometers of coastline, including Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Zhongshan, Jinxingmen, Qi'ao Island, were polluted. This Lingdingyang sea area, which is famous for the famous line written by Wen Tianxiang, "Who has never died in life? Leave your heart to shine in history", was greatly damaged by an oil spill accident. Afterwards, Huang Jianshe continued to pay attention to these shocking oil spills: on July 16, 2010, a 300000 ton Liberian oil tanker unloaded oil at Dalian New Port. Due to illegal operations, the onshore oil pipeline exploded, causing a large fire and crude oil entering the sea. 50 square kilometers of sea surface were polluted, and the total amount of oil spilled reached 1500 tons, causing a huge ecological disaster. In June 2011, the Penglai 19-3 oil well platform of ConocoPhillips China Petroleum Company experienced consecutive oil spills on platforms B and C. This accident involved the unauthorized use of oil suppressants in an attempt to dissolve crude oil in seawater and other erroneous emergency measures, polluting the seawater. The fishing industry along hundreds of kilometers of the coast has been severely affected. This legal lawsuit lasted for more than three years and ultimately ended with the payment of $1 billion in environmental funds to compensate the fishermen who suffered losses. It was this accident that led to the amendment of the Environmental Protection Law by the National People's Congress. The most tragic disaster was the oil pipeline explosion on November 22, 2013 in Huangdao, Qingdao, which resulted in 62 deaths and 156 injuries. The consequences of the deterioration of the ecological environment caused by this are difficult to calculate in value... Speaking of these painful cases, Huang Jianshe seems to be constantly reminded of the scenes from TV programs where seabirds covered in oil are struggling on the beach and fish are barely alive. There has been more than one oil spill accident in Huangdao, Qingdao, "Huang Jianshe continued, taking off his glasses and wiping the corners of his eyes." As early as November 25, 1983, the Panamanian "Eastern Ambassador" oil tanker was carrying more than 43000 tons of crude oil from the Huangdao oil area of Qingdao Port and was stranded at Zhongsha Reef, causing damage to the cargo hold and leaking 3343 tons of crude oil. It has a serious impact on the ecological environment of China's coastal waters In the past, news media reports on emergency response to marine oil spills often overlooked environmental impact factors. The relevant departments still adopt outdated methods for dealing with road oil spill accidents, such as lime neutralization, sand or sawdust adsorption, and even direct use of fire truck flushing to eliminate environmental impacts. Huang Jianshe deeply abhors these phenomena. In particular, the hasty attitude of ConocoPhillips towards oil spill accidents, in order to cope with public pressure and avoid huge economic claims, actually used chemical oil dispersants to deal with polluted sea areas. Huang Jianshe was even more indignant: "Experts believe that the role of oil dispersants is only to disperse oil spills on the sea surface into small oil particles and diffuse them into the sea, rather than making the spills disappear from the sea. Industry insiders have always claimed that oil dispersants are the culprits that strangle beneficial fish. Many foreign countries have been resisting the use of oil dispersants since the 1970s. This can be traced back to the Torrey Canyou oil spill accident, when a large amount of oil dispersants containing high proportion aromatic hydrocarbon solvents were used, affecting marine life in the affected sea area. All benthic organisms have been poisoned to death, and ecological environment restoration will take at least several decades. [2] It can be seen that oil dispersants can only transfer oil pollution from the sea and roads to seawater, ditches, farmland, rivers, and even infiltrate underground in a different way. The severity of secondary pollution caused by improper disposal on the environment can even exceed that of primary pollution! Because oil is not easily decomposed under natural conditions and can cause significant environmental damage. The underground oil layer is formed after billions of years without decomposition under certain geological conditions, which is one of the reasons why all land areas in the world that are rich in oil are now barren deserts. Foreign experts believe that the formation of haze weather is also related to the extensive use of oil dispersants, which cause aromatic hydrocarbons to mix with water and evaporate into the atmosphere, resulting in chemical reactions When it comes to the protection of the environment by national laws, Huang Jianshe is somewhat helpless and worried: "According to experts, China has not yet banned the use of oil dispersants. Once an oil spill occurs on the sea surface, the preferred measure is oil dispersants. Moreover, the use of oil dispersants is usually increased, causing a vicious cycle of marine ecology. The main reason for this situation is that the management regulations stipulate that if oil dispersants are used for treatment, they can be given a lighter punishment, otherwise they will be punished severely. Therefore, when a blowout or oil well test occurs, the oil development department hires local fishing boats, installs simple spraying devices, and desperately pours oil dispersants into the sea, and there is no way to investigate the quantity and effect

Based on this, he is determined to do his utmost to change this situation. In 2006, his company began developing a high molecular weight inert material of silicon aluminum compound, attempting to use it to deal with oil spill accidents. After five or six years of research and development. By 2012, continuous upgrades and better performance inert fire extinguishing and explosion-proof silicon magnesium calcium polymer adsorption materials had been successfully researched. Listed as a provincial-level new product in Zhejiang Province, it has passed the expert acceptance organized by the Provincial Science and Technology Bureau and obtained 1 Chinese invention patent and 2 design patents. There are various specifications of inert FG adsorbent materials, but they are colorless, odorless, non-toxic, heat-resistant, and have strong physical adsorption and fire extinguishing and explosion prevention effects on aromatic chemicals. Compared with the currently advanced PP spray melted cotton oil absorbing felt in the world, another major advantage is that once the chemical liquid comes into contact with this new material, it will be irreversibly physically adsorbed and will never leak again. This outstanding feature has practical reference significance in actual emergency response activities; It can effectively prevent secondary disasters and ensure that the environment is not polluted by oil spill accidents. Therefore, inert adsorbent materials have a higher safety factor compared to other adsorption products. The Maritime Safety Administration approved and filed the Zhongyi FG chemical adsorption granules in 2012, allowing them to be used for emergency response to chemical spills and pollution in marine vessels. If the emergency plan of ConocoPhillips' drilling platform is updated in a timely manner, inert emergency adsorption materials are stored, and inert self-priming fences are used to control the spread of oil pollution when a crude oil leak is first discovered. Then inert adsorption granules are spread to physically adsorb it, and the oil pollution that continuously rushes to the sea surface can be quickly controlled and completely removed. If there are sound emergency plans, response strategies, scientific prevention and follow-up measures, not only can the harm of oil pollution spread be controlled and disposal costs reduced, but also the problem of secondary disasters caused by spraying chemical oil disinfectants and dispersants on the water environment and aquatic fisheries can be solved. Moreover, it will not cause so many complex social impact problems and huge ecological restoration costs of billions of dollars

3、 Taking orders in the face of danger

The Emergency Management Office of Jinhua City and the Emergency Management Office of Yongkang City originally planned to carry out the "Escort" G20 emergency practical exercise on July 15th. The Yongkang Zhongyi Environmental Pollution Control Emergency Rescue Team has been equipped with materials and vehicles on standby at all times since receiving the participation notice. Unexpectedly, a real major oil spill accident happened. If it weren't for the chaos on the scene, it would have been almost misunderstood as a drill!

At 7:50 am that morning, the emergency linkage command center of Yongkang City received a call and immediately responded. Captain Hu Wujun, Chief Engineer Huang Jianxing, Environmental Safety Engineer Huang Jinzhuo, and more than ten emergency team members including Lang Hongxin, Xu Xiaomei, Zhan Qiuyun, Xu Zhuhai, and Wang Jinxia rushed to the crime scene as quickly as possible in two emergency linkage special vehicles provided by the enterprise. They also brought emergency supplies such as inert wing FG oil booms, adsorption pads, adsorption bags, adsorption particles, and fishing nets, and immediately set off. Huang Jianshe, the leader of Zhongyi Company, and his assistant Jing Enlei, as well as Tong Ansheng, the executive deputy director of Yongkang Emergency Office, Lv Ziyun from the Municipal Public Security Bureau, relevant comrades from the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau and the Highway Administration, also attended the event one after another.

At 8:20 am, through observation, it was found that the lubricating oil in the tank truck had basically leaked out, and the road pollution area was about 500 square meters. All other oil stains had leaked to the roadbed. At this point, it can be inferred that it took at least 4-5 hours from the accident to the alarm response. The emergency team immediately unloaded the materials and equipment from the vehicle and prepared to start spreading inert GF adsorption granules on the road. The driver of the accident car, Chen Rongcai, was wearing a pair of shorts and his gaze was dull. He crouched in the shadow beside the car and woke up from his dream after noticing the team members' actions, desperately trying to stop them. He shouted, 'You can't just suck up my oil like this,' thinking that the rescue team was not here to deal with the accident, but to grab the oil. At that time, a large amount of dirty oil leaked and deposited in the drainage channel under the highway. No matter how the emergency team explained, he stopped them from disposing of the oil absorbing granules and said, "I have informed our company, and the company's oil recovery vehicle will come soon!" The rescue team was unable to continue working for a while. The comrades of the traffic police team did not realize that these oil spills could cause a great environmental pollution disaster accident, and they were also advising us: "Since the car owner requested to recycle these oils, let the car owner's company send a car to recycle them later." However, the oil pumping truck of the accident vehicle unit did not arrive at the scene until noon, and only recovered less than 2 tons of fuel. At this time, the oil spill had already leaked into nearby farmland, forests, and water diversion channels through cracks near the channel. The oil spill spread and flowed in the direction of Yongxiang River with the water, increasing the difficulty of oil spill disposal, rescue, and rescue work, and delaying a valuable period of time.

After inspecting the scene and analyzing the situation, Huang Jianshe, Hu Wujun, Tong Ansheng, Lv Ziyun and others from the Zhongyi Rescue Team immediately formulated an emergency plan:

To prevent passing vehicles from slipping, first sprinkle inert FG oil absorbing granules that are fire-resistant, explosion-proof, and prevent wheel slippage around the oil spill tank filling vehicle. Quickly absorb the dirty oil on the road surface in a physical way, clean it up to the recycling bag, and restore the road to traffic as soon as possible.

2. In order to prevent oil spills from potentially flowing into the river and polluting the downstream coastal environment, it is necessary to pre release inert oil absorbing towing in the key section of Yongxiang Creek, intercept upstream pollution, and enclose downstream to control the deterioration, spread, and expansion of the danger. Transport and respond to materials. Once there is oil pollution on the river surface, immediately sprinkle inert adsorption particles for adsorption, and then use a fishing net to salvage and recover.

3. Dealing with target oil spill pollution: Control within one kilometer and try to prevent oil spills from flowing into the Yongkang River to avoid leaks into the Fuchun River and Qiantang River, ensuring the safety of the Hangzhou G20 Summit. All coastal areas and farmland contaminated by oil spills are treated with inert adsorption materials for physical environmental protection throughout the process, minimizing the degree of environmental harm.

The oil spill on the road surface was treated by the rescue team's adsorption method, and after inspection by on-site road management personnel, the road surface was found to be free of any oil stains. 9: At 40 o'clock, the closed road section was unsealed and released. The traffic police at the scene were stunned by the fact that they had never used a drop of water to quickly clean up the oil stains on the road surface after physical adsorption. Inert adsorbents could also provide anti slip effects for passing vehicles, which was called a miracle.

Around 10 o'clock, a large amount of brown blue floating oil had already seeped into more than ten acres of lotus root fields, seedling fields, taro fields, and ponds downstream of the ditch, and drifted towards Yongxiang River, following the water flow to Yongxiang River. The rescue work entered a more difficult stage. The rescue team started using inert FG adsorption bags to stack and build a blocking dam downstream of the ditch. If it weren't for Huang Jianshe's previous experience in participating in emergency response to oil spills in other places, deploying and carrying out emergency operations in advance, if 18 tons of oil pollution flowed into Yongxiang River, calculated at a flow rate of 1 meter per second, in less than 100 minutes, these oil pollutants would have reached Jinhua River, floated into Lanjiang River in 2 hours, reached Fuchun River in 4 hours, and reached Qiantang River in 8 hours. The oil pollution front would have reached Qiantang River, and the subsequent oil pollution would have continued to drift downstream, forming a 200 kilometer long oil pollution belt. The resulting large-scale environmental pollution event along the Yangtze River would have alarmed the three Zhejiang provinces and cities, affected the safety preparations for the Hangzhou G20 Summit, and further shook the central government

As early as 9 o'clock in the morning, according to the emergency plan, Captain Hu Wujun sent Lang Hongxin and Hu Xiongzhi to search for suitable terrain and river sections downstream along Yongxiang River for containment. Due to the lack of a guide, the team had to rely on themselves, carrying a 35 kilogram inert oil absorbing barrier, searching and surveying along the stream with no road at all. Finally, they found the Shangyuan Dam about 1 kilometer away from the oil spill site. This dam is most suitable for placing inert oil absorbing fences to block oil pollution, which is conducive to the delivery of emergency supplies.

By around 11 o'clock, before the oil spill had surged in large quantities, multiple inert oil suction booms with widths ranging from 30-50 meters were successfully set up, and five horizontal barriers were pre arranged to prevent the spread of oil pollution, winning valuable time.

Yongkang is located on the southeastern edge of the Jinqu Basin, with a terrain that is high in the east and low in the west. The southeast monsoon from the East China Sea is blocked by mountains, making it difficult to reach here. It is a famous furnace in central Zhejiang. During the hottest period of the year, between the Lesser Heat and the Greater Heat, the scorching sun shamelessly scorched the earth, tormenting people's endurance. The fairy like Yongxiang River has been overturned by oil pollution, like splashing blue and black ink on the beautiful ribbons of fairies. At this time, it is around 13 noon. Lubricating oil seeps from the sand and gravel beach on the riverbank to the bottom of the riverbed, and under the pressure of water, it floats up to the surface of the water and drifts down. The toxic odor, also under the scorching sun, stimulates the senses of the rescue personnel everywhere. In the chest deep river water filled with blue brown oil stains, the team members' clothes were mixed with sweat, oil stains, and river water, tightly adhering to their skin, making it impossible for them to sweat or breathe normally. This is a will driven postgraduate entrance examination, a final battle in a race against time! These ordinary team members have no grandiose words, no honorary incentives, no monetary promises, only a simple belief that in order to ensure the safety of the preparation for the Hangzhou G20 Summit, the oil pollution on Yongxiang River must not be allowed to flow out of Yongkang.

At the scene of the incident, most of the leaders of the relevant departments who participated in commanding the rescue were first-time participants in dealing with such leakage accidents, and perhaps lacked an assessment of the situation of secondary serious environmental pollution. After seeing the timely resumption of road traffic, they withdrew one after another. At around 1 pm, the team members waiting at the oil suction barrier of Shangyuan Dam under the scorching sun hurriedly ate fast food and rested under the bridge opening. The sharp eyed team member suddenly noticed that there were already a large number of floating oil droplets gushing out of the river surface. This is because there is a process of oil pollution infiltrating into the soil and sand, and then infiltrating into the downstream riverbed. Hu Wujun, who commanded the scene, immediately took a photo and sent it to Huang Jianshe via WeChat. Huang Jianshe rushed to Shangyuan Dam upon hearing the news and found that the oil pollution had been accumulating more and more. The oil absorbing fence and particles brought by Lang Hongxin and Hu Xiongzhi alone were far from enough to meet the needs. Huang Jianshe immediately assigned environmental safety engineer Huang Jinzhuo to drive to the company's emergency material reserve warehouse to continue transporting inert FG adsorption materials and other equipment. At this moment, the originally white inert adsorption granules have turned into yellow brown after being filled with oil, and the surface of the river up and down 1000 meters along the creek looks like yellow brown oil absorbing material at a glance. What is worse is that the weather forecast says that there will be heavy rain at night. If the rainstorm washes the oil absorption materials downstream, it will also cause panic among the residents along the river banks. But it's not easy to recycle the oil absorbing particles from the entire river? A bag of adsorbent material originally weighed 10 kilograms, but after absorbing oil, it was picked up and put back into the bag, which weighed 50 kilograms and required two people to lift it. In less than an hour, more than 10 emergency team members were exhausted and standing in the river, swaying and shaking.

2pm in the afternoon. There is a faint thunder coming from the horizon, and the clouds in the southwest direction are constantly accumulating and surging. The oil pollution on the water surface of Shangyuan Dam is accumulating more and more, and the river surface is covered with oil layers several centimeters thick. Huang Jianshe realized that with just a dozen or so members of the company's emergency team, it was obviously impossible to salvage all the oil absorbing granules on the nearly 1-kilometer-long and 50 meter wide river surface covered in oil pollution in a short period of time. He was extremely anxious and used WeChat to post information about the situation on site to Tong Ansheng and the emergency rescue volunteer group: "The situation is critical. We are afraid of a sudden change in climate, and there may be thunderstorms in the evening. We request the government to increase manpower. We urgently need to solve rescue facilities such as water boats and nighttime electricity. If the Shangyuan Dam is not safe, Yongxiang River is in danger, Yongxiang River is in danger, Yongkang River is in danger, Yongkang River is in danger, and the four rivers of Wujiang, Lanjiang, Fuchun, and Qiantang River are all in danger

Upon hearing the news, the Millennium Pioneer Water Rescue Team immediately deployed over 20 volunteers. Although they were driving luxury cars, wearing suits and ties, and had just come out of the air-conditioned room, when they heard that the oil spill accident here could affect the safety of the G20 Hangzhou Summit, they all took off their suits and threw down their leather shoes, and joined the emergency rescue activities like farmers. The dangerous situation has touched the hearts of the leaders of the Yongkang Municipal Party Committee and Government, as well as the hearts of the people of Yongkang. The deputy mayor in charge of environmental protection and other leaders rushed to the scene again; After learning of the further development of the danger, leaders from relevant departments such as the Municipal Emergency Management Office and the Environmental Protection Bureau rushed to the final interception site of the oil spill accident - Shangyuan Dam.

4、 Horror moment

The oil pollution on the river is accumulating more and more. In case of rainstorm and flood, it is very likely to break the oil absorption fence and flush the oil pollution and adsorbed particles to the Yongkang River. If manpower and material resources are organized to salvage the Yongkang River and Wuyi River at that time, it will inevitably increase the workload by nearly a hundred times and the cost of cleaning materials by dozens of times, and inevitably cause unnecessary panic and impact on social stability. In order to save the emergency, the leaders of the local environmental protection bureau immediately urgently recruited two batches of temporary workers, each consisting of more than ten people, from the Lingong market. They promised to pay a high wage of 80 yuan per hour, but the two batches of migrant workers shook their heads repeatedly as they watched the rescue team members in the oily water deep to their chests and necks, saying that such hard work was not profitable. They turned around and left one after another.

By 17:00, except for the rescue team who remained at the scene, all other personnel had gradually left.

Unfortunately, there was a faint thunder coming at this moment, and Hu Wujun couldn't help but feel tormented in his heart upon hearing it. The unexpected rainstorm may break down the oil suction boom. How can we collect the oil pollution in the river as soon as possible? He walked back and forth along the dam like a needle on a needle, frowning and pondering. He suddenly found that there was an open river beach on the south bank of the dam. If... his mind suddenly flashed, why not dig a big hole on the bank, so that we can use the oil absorption railings to drain the saturated oil absorption granules into the big hole first, and maybe we can collect all the oil absorption granules before the rainstorm. He immediately reported this bold new plan to the relevant leaders.

The emergency plan proposed at that time was roughly as follows: request to urgently call large excavators, excavate a temporary oil storage tank that can hold more than 80 cubic meters on the beach on the south bank of the dam, then excavate the right bank of the dam, and then drain the oil absorption granules that can not be salvaged from the river into the oil storage tank for temporary storage to prevent rainstorm and flood from breaking the oil absorption fence and endangering the downstream. After surveying the terrain, Huang Jianshe immediately agreed to implement the plan. When reporting to the leadership of the command center, he added three more:

1. Emergency rescue must be carried out overnight. Immediately implement the provision of emergency lighting power supply.

2. Request the "Qianxi Rescue Team" to continue providing reinforcements and assist in collecting oil containment booms and oil absorbing granules.

3. Take preventive measures and ask the village cadres in Jiangnan Street to be responsible for guarding the fence facilities at night to prevent accidents such as secondary water surface residual oil leakage caused by damage.

Upon hearing the news, the city leaders who returned to the scene once again made a decision and instructed the leaders of Jiangnan Street to immediately hire large excavators to be on site for use; Instruct the Jiangnan Power Supply Station of the Power Supply Bureau to install temporary lighting and electricity before dark.

However, the implementation process of this plan was obstructed by some individuals, and two local female villagers also proposed to collect a deposit of 2000 yuan before construction could proceed.

At around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was setting in the west and the sky was getting late. As the floating oil accumulated more and more, the excavation of a temporary oil storage pit was blocked by the masses. The rescue team members were all worried, and coupled with the heat, fatigue, hunger, and thirst, their physical and mental strength almost collapsed. In times of crisis, contact the local village leaders to carry out persuasion and education work for the local people, clarify the significance of emergency rescue work for the whole city, province, and overall situation, and point out that if the rescue is obstructed, certain legal consequences must be borne. The two female villagers left in frustration.

A large excavator arrived at the scene before dark, and the power supply department promptly set up temporary electricity. A few small suns illuminated the rescue site like daylight. The excavator kept roaring for a moment, and in less than 2 hours, it dug a 4-meter-wide and 2-meter-deep hole in the south of the embankment, and the temporary oil storage tank was also completed.

Since around 3 pm, Dong Chenfa, the captain of the Millennium Pioneer Water Rescue Team, has led more than 20 people. Carrying two rubber boats for rescue. The emergency team members in the middle wing were greatly inspired when they saw the strong troops coming to assist. These volunteers are young and strong, full of vitality, jumping into the polluted oil river and working shoulder to shoulder with the central emergency team to carry out rescue operations, significantly accelerating the rescue process. This rescue volunteer team is composed of volunteers from small and medium-sized private enterprise owners in Yongkang. Since its establishment, the rescue team has always encountered risks and responded to requests. I have participated in the roof collapse accident of the wedding banquet hall in Yazhuang Village, Wancang Township, Pan'an on February 14, 2014; On February 16, 2016, a case of children wandering in the deep mountains in Jianguang Shanghe Village, Pujiang County was found; On September 28, 2016, emergency rescue operations were carried out for sudden accidents and major disasters such as the landslide in Sucun, Suichang County. In Yongkang, they have also participated in multiple rescue cases such as elderly people getting lost in deep mountains and mountain climbers falling and injuring themselves. This team has strong combat effectiveness, brilliant achievements, and a remarkable reputation, and has made outstanding contributions in various rescue activities. Each of them has their own factory and company, and they are reluctant to spend time gathering, traveling, visiting relatives and friends. However, when there is a danger, they will put aside their tedious work, pick up rescue equipment, change into clothes, and drive their private cars to set off immediately. The first social volunteer force that came to mind by the leaders of the Emergency Response Center for this oil spill rescue reinforcement is the Millennium Pioneer Water Rescue Team.

Until around 11pm, more than ten tons of inert oil absorbing granules that had been fully adsorbed on the floating river surface were finally surrounded and guided into the temporary oil storage tank by oil absorbing towing booms. At this point, dozens of rescue team members were extremely exhausted and had no strength to climb ashore. But the work that night is not over yet, and a new layer of inert oil absorbing granules must be spread on the river to fix the oil absorbing drag. Fortunately, the terrifying heavy rain brushed past the rescue site.

5、 The river is safe and sound

At 5am on July 16th. Hu Wujun didn't have time for breakfast and drove to Shangyuan Dam. The oil containment barrier of the dam has not moved, and a large area of originally white oil absorbing granules above the dam has turned yellow brown again; The river water under the dam's drag bar is still clear and rippling, with a picturesque reflection. The naked eye can observe that there is no oil stain on the water surface under the sunlight. A stone in his heart fell to the ground. Unfortunately, the oil pollution that had been blocked by FG adsorption bags in the upstream diversion canal under the highway was dug open again last night, and all the blocked oil pollution leaked into Yongxiang River. So the already clear river surface upstream of the dam is now covered in large amounts of oil pollution. If inert oil absorbing granules and oil absorbing fences were not pre deployed, these oil stains would have leaked into the downstream of Yongxiang River, endangering the ecological environment of the entire water system of Jinhua River, Fuchun River, and Qiantang River, and causing a recurrence of secondary environmental disasters.

In the following 5 days, oil stains similar to the previous days continued to emerge. The rescue team from Zhongyi still spontaneously come to the river early in the morning every day and continue to clean up according to the plan.

The two rubber boats of the Qianxi Pioneer Water Rescue Team have aged and been scrapped after being soaked in oil. In order to facilitate cleaning, the rescue team of the middle wing had to resort to the old method of jumping naked into the river to salvage oil particles. At the same time, manpower is mobilized to repeatedly use inert adsorbents for toxic soil oil-water separation and ecological restoration treatment of upstream channels, polluted farmland, and residual oil pollution between fields.

On July 18, the weather forecast was heavy to rainstorm. We dare not slack off, continue to transport rescue materials, spread fire-proof and explosion-proof inert oil absorption granules, continue to collect and remove residual oil and dirt on the water surface, and seize the heavy rainstorm to surround the oil and dirt intercepted above the dam into the pool to eliminate the danger of leakage into the Yongkang River. In the evening of the same day, when thunder and rainstorm hit, the middle wing captain and the Millennium Pioneer Water Rescue captain Dong Chenfa had been sticking to the side of the fence of Shangyuan Dam. Because the temporarily erected wire was hanging on the big tree along the bank of Shangyuan Dam, the fork of the tree was broken by lightning. Fortunately, the team members were not hurt. This clearing operation continued until the 21st.

From July 30th to September 30th, two and a half months have passed. Although the oil layer on the water surface has been effectively controlled and cleared, there is still a small amount of dirty oil seeping out from the bottom of the riverbed of Shangyuan Dam. It is necessary to send people to repeatedly absorb, salvage, clean, and replace the oil containment boom every day. The oil containment boom in this section was kept until the end of September, until no oil stains were found on the upstream water surface of Shangyuan Dam.

In response to the introduction of temporary oil storage tanks, inert FG oil absorbing granules were repeatedly used to adsorb solid oil and facilitate bagging and packaging. More than 10 sanitation workers were recruited by the Municipal Environmental Sanitation Bureau, and it took a total of 3 days to pack and clear over 400 bags of nearly 30 tons of oil pollution waste. Use these wastes for pollution-free treatment according to the plan.

According to incomplete statistics, this rescue operation cleared more than 1000 meters of contaminated Yongxiang River section, covering an area of about 20000 square meters, and cleared about 300-500 square meters of oil pollution from highways and road slopes; Eliminate pollution and improve and restore approximately 20 acres of contaminated forest and farmland. According to multiple monitoring of the water quality of the Yongkang River downstream by volunteers, no harmful components such as oil spills or residues have been found. Physical adsorption technology was used throughout the entire process of oil pollution discharge into the river water area to thoroughly remove it, without the use of chemical oil dispersants, to prevent the harm to aquatic plants and fishery environment in the entire secondary Qiantang River water system. Set a new record for domestic oil spill control with a safe, environmentally friendly, and low-cost disposal model.

According to incomplete statistics from the Zhongyi and Millennium Vanguard social rescue teams, the emergency supplies consumed in this rescue operation were approximately;

1. 6.62 tons of inert FG adsorption granules, 1.54 tons of inert adsorption pads, 360 meters of inert oil absorbing fence, 420 PP recycling bags, and 40 fishing nets; The Qianxi rescue team scrapped 2 rubber boats, each costing 5000 yuan. The cost of cleaning materials is about 400000 yuan. 2. Mobilize manpower: 101 people from Yongkang Zhongyi Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. and 66 people from Yongkang Millennium Pioneer Rescue Team (excluding personnel dispatched by Jiangnan Street, Environmental Protection Bureau and other units). The total cost of the above two items is 436594 yuan.

The major oil spill cleanup and rescue mission on July 15th has finally come to an end. After experiencing a hundred days of horror, Yongxiang Creek, which is like a fairy ribbon full of fairy like poetry, is still clear, flowing peacefully and quietly; The picturesque Yongkang River has finally escaped danger. The Wujiang and Lanjiang river systems have also escaped danger, and the Fuchun and Qiantang rivers are safe and sound! G20 summit is safe!

6、 Reflection after the Scare

It is worth mentioning that the specific responsible comrades for emergency linkage, such as Deputy Director Zhu of Jinhua Emergency Office and Deputy Director Tong of Yongkang Emergency Office, activated the emergency plan as soon as the oil spill accident occurred; Issue emergency response instructions to the Yongkang Zhongyi Environmental Pollution Control Rescue Team in Jinhua City; And lead by example, personally commanding the battle on site. Especially in critical moments, they dared to abandon traditional concepts, bravely took responsibility, adopted inert physical adsorption new materials and technologies, banned chemical oil disinfectants, effectively protected the safety of downstream water bodies, aquatic plants, and fisheries in the Jinhua River, Lanjiang River, Fuchun River, and Qiantang River systems, and avoided the recurrence of environmental tragedies caused by improper emergency measures. They made outstanding contributions to escorting the G20 Hangzhou Summit.

On December 8, 2016, Jing Anlei, Secretary of the Party Branch of Yongkang Zhongyi Pioneer Harmony United, was invited to attend the 5th International Oil Spill Technology Exchange Conference held in Beijing. The attending leaders and experts from various countries highly praised the innovative models and achievements in responding to the 7.15 accident. According to expert evaluations, considering factors such as the economic development and population density of the water system basin, if the 18 ton oil pollution is not intercepted in a timely manner, it may cause direct economic losses of at least several hundred million yuan downstream, and the negative political impact on the Hangzhou G20 Summit is even more incalculable. We greatly appreciate the use of social rescue organizations by the Emergency Management Office of Jinhua City and the Emergency Management Office of Yongkang City to successfully carry out emergency response, and request the provision of a series of special reports on the handling of the 7.15 accident and an environmental impact assessment report from the environmental protection department after the accident.

The occurrence of similar sudden disaster events often easily blurs the responsibility of the rescue and relief work. Although the rescue work for the 7.15 accident has already been successfully completed, who should bear the cost of the economic issues such as material and human resources consumed during the rescue process? The question of who will bear the responsibility for the 7.15 accident has become confusing. It is said that the vehicles of the company involved in the accident and the parties involved have been released without assuming any economic or responsibility. The reason is simple: 'Highways and regulatory authorities have not filed a case!' This indicates that there is still room for continuous improvement in China's laws and regulations.

According to media reports, Ms. Huang, as a new NPC representative from Yongkang, the frontline of Yongkang City, submitted a legislative proposal "pay attention to strengthening the team building and financial security of civil society organizations for emergency rescue, and improve and modify the emergency response law" when attending the NPC session, which attracted the attention of leaders from all walks of life and received warm responses from the media. It is worth mentioning that the original intention of Ms. Huang's proposal was based on the active participation of social rescue teams such as Yongkang Zhongyi and Qianxi Pioneer in the 7.15 oil spill rescue activities.

In recent years, the frequent occurrence of oil spill accidents in China has sounded the alarm for secondary major environmental hazards, highlighting the importance and urgency of emergency capacity building. Therefore, the author draws on the entire cycle of "before, during, and after" the 7.15 emergency accident to comprehensively improve countermeasures, calls on knowledgeable people to participate in emergency scientific innovation and reform, improve emergency plans and response strategies, and recommends the popularization and establishment of similar environmental pollution control and rescue teams throughout the country, with corresponding emergency facilities, to control the deterioration of emergencies, and resolve the risk of secondary environmental pollution.

To celebrate the establishment of the National Emergency Management Department and the second anniversary of the successful rescue of the 7.15 oil spill incident in Yongkang City, this article is presented to contribute our modest efforts to promoting social harmony together.

References

[1] LESSARD R R, DEMARCO G.The sjgnificance of oi［spil］dis-Persants［J］.Spill Scieence&Technology Bulletin,2000,6(1):59-68

[2] ETKIN d. oil spill dispersants: From Technology to policy{M}.Arlington:Cutter Information Corp,1999.77-78

[3] Song Chunyin, the use of Bohai oil reducing agents should be included in standardized management [J] Ocean Information, 1995, 4:13-14

Special note: This article is based on Huang Jianshe's "Record of Emergency Response to the Great Oil Spill Accident on the G25 Changshen Expressway on July 15th [J] Yongkang Spring and Autumn, 2017, 1:33-37". Some of the information and data have been rewritten and cited from the internet.

Author Introduction: Zhang Zehong is a member of the Writers Association and Vice President of the Poetry Association in Yongkang, Zhejiang,

Hu Wujun, Commander in Chief of Yongkang Zhongyi Environmental Pollution Control Emergency Rescue Team

August 1, 2018