An Oil Spill Too Slick for Accountability

Months have passed since crude trickled and then poured from China's worst-ever offshore oil rig leak, but trying to trace the lines of public accountability for the disaster has proven as messy as sopping up pollution slicks.

Rig operator ConocoPhillips China said 700 barrels of crude leaked into the northern Bohai Bay, while another 2,500 barrels of mineral oil and oil-based slurry sank to sea floor between early June and late August. The leak was stopped by August 31.