Physical damage

"If there were no explosion, there would have been no oil spill. If there were no oil pollution, my nephew would never be dead," Gao said to himself when staring into the sea that engulfed Cui.

Gao's voice sounded husky and tired. He used to have a loud, sharp voice, but now it sounded like someone playing a broken drum.

"My voice changed a bit, and even worse, my skin has become quite dry and itchy since then," Gao said.

Gao pulled up his sleeves and trouser-legs. "My skin is peeling off," he said as he displayed an infected wound, the size of an egg, with visible capillaries on his left arm. Gao added that he and other fishermen from his family who had participated in the cleanup effort felt "dizzy and sleepy all day long" after the work.

While they realized that exposure to the oil might harm their health, a dozen of fishermen interviewed by said they wore no gloves, protective clothing or face protection during the work.

They had their own explanations.

"It's too inconvenient, and also a waste of time to work with water-proof clothes on. We just wanted to save time to earn more money," Bian Chunshu, 43, a fisherman from Miaoshang village told the Global Times.

Li Shengli, 38, another Miaoshang villager, said after a day in the oily sea, he had to throw away his everyday clothes. "In order to save money, I went shirtless after the first few days."

A cleaner from Dalian Municipal Corporation, surnamed Wang, warned onlookers to keep away from white stone barriers of a bridge as he sprayed them with water cannons mixed with water and a toxic chemical dispersant.

"We were ordered to use the dispersant to wash the oil off, and it's poisonous," he said.

A tag on a dispersant container read: "Avoid prolonged contact with exposed skin."

"My face burned like pepper spray when this stuff splashed on my face. Why didn't the government give us gloves, masks or protective clothing if it is poisonous?" Wang asked.

Making a fortune

Even if they knew clearly that the oil was poisonous, most of the fishermen still rushed to join the battle. They were not volunteers. They came for money.

In Longshan village, which neighbors Miaoshang, Li Haifen owns 10 fishing boats and each boat could collect a maximum of 100 barrels of oil, which meant he could get 300,000 yuan a day before expenses.

"After deducting the pay for workers, and the cost of barrels, I earned more than 150,000 yuan every day," Li Jingfeng said.

With the booming dirty and dangerous cleanup business, the price of barrels also rose, from 30 yuan to 80 yuan.

Zhong Linxiang, an officer of the Longshan village committee, told the Global Times that at the very beginning the local government paid 1,000 yuan for each boat that went out for cleanup.

At the time, most villagers were not highly motivated, because it was arduous and they thought the money was not enough. However, when the payment rose to 300 yuan per barrel, they were in high spirits.

"Seven villages around the Golden Pebble Beach together collected more than 10,000 barrels of oil every day," Zhong said.

When asked about the dangers of working unprotected, Zhong admitted "it may be poisonous for some weak and old people, but I think, there isn't much harm to the strong."

After the hard and bitter work, Dalian Mayor Li Wancai announced on July 25 that "a decisive victory has been made in the battle against the spilled oil," Xinhua reported.