Authorities in Dalian...narrowly avoid[ed] a potentially disastrous chemical spill Monday, amid public panic and calls for a reassessment of risks in pushing ahead with large petrochemical projects along the Bohai Sea coast...Local officials scrambled...to prevent seawater from flooding 20 metal tanks containing toxic chemicals...Xinhua said residents living near the Fujia Group’s chemical plant in the Jinshan Industrial Zone were relocated. The Fujia plant has been shrouded in controversy since 2005...Despite widespread fears for its safety and health impact, the project..was allowed to be built on reclaimed land. The petrochemical company and Fujia declined to comment...Ma Jun, a Beijing-based environmentalist, said the breach exposed the risk of developing petrochemical projects in coastal areas...He noted that authorities in Dalian had yet to explain the PetroChina...spill last year...[See PetroChina company section for reports on this spill and PetroChina's comments]