China's maritime authority is ready to sue U.S. oil company ConocoPhillips, the operator of two leaking oil platforms off China's northeast coast.

Spilled oil can still be seen on the surface of the water near the affected area in North China's Bohai Bay, on August 22, 2011. The oil spills near Platform C at Penglai 19-3 oil field were first detected on June 4. [Xinhua]

A spokesman from the State Oceanic Administration said China is ready to file a lawsuit demanding compensation for the leaks after choosing a team of lawyers, hopefully before the end of this month.

The administration said the oil spills, which occurred in the bay's Penglai 19-3 oilfield, have damaged the country's oceanic environment and polluted some 840 square kilometers of water.

49 Chinese law firms have applied to provide legal assistance in the suit, the spokesman said. The North China Sea branch of the SOA will whittle the applicants down to eight companies before assembling the final version of its legal team around the end of August.

ConocoPhillips China, a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, first reported the oil spills in June. The spills have spread to beaches in Hebei and Liaoning provinces and been blamed for losses in local tourism and aquatic farming industries.

Although the company has worked to clean up the spills, pollutants have still been found in the bay. It also admitted that nine new oil spill sources have been found in the bay as of August 20.

Fishermen in the country's northern Hebei province were preparing to sue the U.S. firms for allegedly wiping out large numbers of scallops in the ocean, Xinhua reported earlier.