In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, US oil giant ConocoPhillips claimed oil spills in the Bohai Bay from June to November this year caused "minimal lasting impact to the environment."

A ship moves near the platform B in Penglai 19-3 oilfield at north China's Bohai Bay, in this file photo taken on July 15, 2011. [Xinhua]?

Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, said ConocoPhillips' statement clearly contradicts the current situation on the ground. He said a large area of the bay water had been polluted and some oil had reached coastal areas.

"People can see with their own eyes and the pollution to the sea is undeniable," Ma added.

The company said earlier that a third-party shoreline assessment showed that only two of 80 sample locations were similar to the oil from the Penglai 19-3 oilfield. And it has spent more than $200 million doing cleanup work after the oil spill.

The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said on Nov 11 the spill had polluted 6,200 square kilometers of Bohai Bay - an area about nine times the size of Singapore.

107 Hebei Province fishermen have taken the legal action in a maritime court in neighboring Tianjin City, claiming ConocoPhillips China seriously damaged the local fishery industry, Zhao Jingwei, an attorney representing the fishermen, said last week.

He said the ConocoPhillips statement is not trustworthy, because according to sample testing from the Ministry of Agriculture in July and August, drops of oil in the coastal areas in Liaoning, Hebei and Tianjin were the same as oil from the leak.

After the incident, large amounts of scallops and sea cucumbers were found dead or stopped growing in the nearby cultivation areas, he said.

In mid-September, ConocoPhillips China announced a plan to establish two funds for damage caused by the spill. But when the funds will be established is still unknown.