Marine biologists at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University report the cable could cross deep water mud habitats.

BBC: Western Isles sub-sea cable 'could affect' mud life

The State Oceanic Administration said this week that it asked the company to give a comprehensive assessment report on the cleanup process of the oily mud with details on the spill area, including the cleaned and to-be-cleaned parts of the bay, China Daily reported.

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"The bottom-line takeaway message that I got from the report is that a company can work hard on privacy issues and still get dragged into the mud, " Cutts wrote.

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