(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-01 17:04

The city of Yan'an in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has turned to rivers and wells for water supply after a reservoir was polluted by crude oil leaking from a broken pipeline, Mayor Chen Qiang said on Saturday.

The majority of the oil spill has been collected as of Friday evening after 2,800 people worked for two days, the mayor said.

The pipeline belonging to the fourth oil extraction factory of the Changqing Oil Field was broken by landslide at 7:30 am Wednesday, from which leaked oil spread quickly to the lower reaches of the Xingzihe River.

In the Jingbian County of the Yulin City in northern Shaanxi, slick was found in eight kilometers of the river. Clean-up crew managed to plug up the cracks and people were building dams to contain the oil.

In the adjacent Zhidan County of Yan'an City, people built 16 dams and took back about 20 tons of oil on Wednesday. More than 200 vessels were summoned to collect the oil spill.

However, Wangyao Reservoir, the main water supply for 2.15 million residents in Yan'an, was polluted, forcing the city to take water from Yanhe River, Xihe River and wells.

Chen Qiang said water from the alternative sources was enough for local residents.

The local environment watchdog was monitoring the quality of water in the reservoir around the clock