UPDATED
Ship's anchor among possible causes of California oil spill
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Officials are looking into whether a ship's anchor may have struck an oil pipeline on the ocean floor, causing a major leak of crude into waters off Southern California.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Officials are looking into whether a ship's anchor may have struck an oil pipeline on the ocean floor, causing a major leak of crude into waters off Southern California.
The head of the company that operates the pipeline said Monday that divers have examined more than 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) of pipe and are focusing on “one area of significant interest.”
Amplify Energy CEO Martyn Willsher said during a news conference that a ship's anchor striking the pipeline is “one of the distinct possibilities” for the cause of the leak.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said that cargo ships entering the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach routinely pass through the area.
“We’re looking into if it could have been an anchor from a ship, but that’s in the assessment phase right now,” said Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Jeannie Shaye of Coast Guard.
The leak reported Saturday has fouled the sands of famed Huntington Beach and other coastal communities. The spill could keep beaches closed for weeks or months.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
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HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The company that operates the pipeline suspected in one of California's largest oil spills has been cited 72 times for safety and environmental violations that were severe enough that drilling had to be curtailed or stopped to fix the problem, regulatory records show.
In all, Beta Operating Co. has been cited 125 times since 1980, according to a database from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the federal agency that regulates the offshore oil and gas industry. The online database provides only the total number of violations, not the details for each incident.
The company was fined a total of $85,000 for three incidents. Two were from 2014, when a worker who was not wearing proper protective equipment was shocked with 98,000 volts of electricity, and a separate incident when crude oil was released through a boom where a safety device had been improperly bypassed.
Beta, which is a subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy, is under scrutiny after a suspected leak in an underwater pipeline sent 126,000 gallons (572,807 liters) of heavy crude into the ocean waters, fouling the sands of famed Huntington Beach and other coastal communities. The spill could keep beaches closed for weeks or longer.
Environmentalists had feared the oil might devastate birds and marine life in the area. But Michael Ziccardi, a veterinarian and director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, said only four oily birds had been found so far. One suffered chronic injuries and had to be euthanized, he said.
“It’s much better than we had feared,” he said at a news conference Monday.
Ziccardi said he’s “cautiously optimistic,” but it’s too soon to know the extent of the spill’s effect on wildlife. In other offshore oil spills, the largest number of oiled birds have been collected two to five days after the incident, he said.
Amplify operates three oil platforms about 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) off the coast of California, all installed between 1980 and 1984. The company also operates a 16-inch pipeline that carries oil from a processing platform to an onshore storage facility in Long Beach. The company has said the oil appears to be coming from a rupture in that pipeline about 4 miles (6.44 kilometers) from the platform.
Before the spill, Amplify had high hopes for the Beta oil field and was pouring millions of dollars into upgrades and new “side track” projects that would tap into oil by drilling laterally.
“We have the opportunity to keep going for as long as we want,” Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said in an August conference call with investors. He added there was capacity “up to 20,000 barrels a day.”
Investors shared Willsher’s optimism, sending the company's stock up more than sevenfold since the beginning of the year to $5.75 at the close of trading on Friday. The stock plunged more than 40% in morning trading Monday.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and emerged a few months later. It had been using cash generated by the Beta field and others in Oklahoma and Texas to pay down $235 million in debt.
Some residents, business owners and environmentalists questioned whether authorities reacted quickly enough to contain the spill. People who live and work in the area said they noticed an oil sheen and a heavy petroleum smell Friday evening.
Booms were deployed on the ocean surface Sunday to try to contain the oil while divers sought to determine where and why the leak occurred. On land, there was a race to find animals harmed by the oil and to keep the spill from harming any more sensitive marshland.
But it was not until Saturday afternoon that the Coast Guard said an oil slick had been spotted and a unified command established to respond. And it took until Saturday night for the company to shut down the pipeline.
Rick Torgerson, owner of Blue Star Yacht Charter, said on Friday evening “people were emailing, and the neighbors were asking, ‘Do you smell that?’” By Saturday morning, boats were returning to the marina with their hulls covered in oil, he said.
Garry Brown, president of the environmental group Orange County Coastkeeper, decried a lack of initial coordination among the Coast Guard and local officials in dealing with the spreading oil slick.
“By the time it comes to the beach, it’s done tremendous damage. Our frustration is, it could have been averted if there was a quick response,” said Brown, who lives in Huntington Beach.
Some of the oil washed up on the shores of Orange County. The city and state beaches at Huntington Beach were closed, and late Sunday the city of Laguna Beach, just to the south, said its beaches also were closed.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said the beaches of the community nicknamed “Surf City” could remain closed for weeks or even months. The oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore in sticky black globules.
“In a year that has been filled with incredibly challenging issues, this oil spill constitutes one of the most devastating situations that our community has dealt with in decades,” Carr said. “We are doing everything in our power to protect the health and safety of our residents, our visitors and our natural habitats.”
Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said the pipeline and the company's three platforms were shut down Saturday night. The 17.5-mile (28.16-kilometer) pipeline that is 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) below the surface was suctioned out so no more oil would spill while the location of the leak was being investigated.
Crews led by the Coast Guard-deployed skimmers laid some 3,700 feet (1,128 meters) of floating barriers known as booms to try to stop more oil from seeping into areas including Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre (10-hectare) wetland officials said.
The oil will likely continue to wash up on the shore for several days and could affect Newport Beach and other nearby communities, officials said.
The spill comes three decades after a massive oil leak hit the same stretch of Orange County coast. On Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran over its anchor off Huntington Beach, spilling nearly 417,000 gallons (1.6 million liters) of crude. Fish and about 3,400 birds were killed.
In 2015, a ruptured pipeline north of Santa Barbara sent 143,000 gallons (541,313 liters) of crude oil gushing onto Refugio State Beach.
The area affected by the latest spill is home to threatened and endangered species, including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales.
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Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker in Washington, D.C., Bernard Condon in New York, Felicia Fonseca in Phoenix and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.
Amy Taxin And Christopher Weber, The Associated Press
Amplify Energy CEO Martyn Willsher said during a news conference that a ship's anchor striking the pipeline is “one of the distinct possibilities” for the cause of the leak.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said that cargo ships entering the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach routinely pass through the area.
“We’re looking into if it could have been an anchor from a ship, but that’s in the assessment phase right now,” said Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Jeannie Shaye of Coast Guard.
The leak reported Saturday has fouled the sands of famed Huntington Beach and other coastal communities. The spill could keep beaches closed for weeks or months.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
___
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The company that operates the pipeline suspected in one of California's largest oil spills has been cited 72 times for safety and environmental violations that were severe enough that drilling had to be curtailed or stopped to fix the problem, regulatory records show.
In all, Beta Operating Co. has been cited 125 times since 1980, according to a database from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the federal agency that regulates the offshore oil and gas industry. The online database provides only the total number of violations, not the details for each incident.
The company was fined a total of $85,000 for three incidents. Two were from 2014, when a worker who was not wearing proper protective equipment was shocked with 98,000 volts of electricity, and a separate incident when crude oil was released through a boom where a safety device had been improperly bypassed.
Beta, which is a subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy, is under scrutiny after a suspected leak in an underwater pipeline sent 126,000 gallons (572,807 liters) of heavy crude into the ocean waters, fouling the sands of famed Huntington Beach and other coastal communities. The spill could keep beaches closed for weeks or longer.
Environmentalists had feared the oil might devastate birds and marine life in the area. But Michael Ziccardi, a veterinarian and director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, said only four oily birds had been found so far. One suffered chronic injuries and had to be euthanized, he said.
“It’s much better than we had feared,” he said at a news conference Monday.
Ziccardi said he’s “cautiously optimistic,” but it’s too soon to know the extent of the spill’s effect on wildlife. In other offshore oil spills, the largest number of oiled birds have been collected two to five days after the incident, he said.
Amplify operates three oil platforms about 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) off the coast of California, all installed between 1980 and 1984. The company also operates a 16-inch pipeline that carries oil from a processing platform to an onshore storage facility in Long Beach. The company has said the oil appears to be coming from a rupture in that pipeline about 4 miles (6.44 kilometers) from the platform.
Before the spill, Amplify had high hopes for the Beta oil field and was pouring millions of dollars into upgrades and new “side track” projects that would tap into oil by drilling laterally.
“We have the opportunity to keep going for as long as we want,” Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said in an August conference call with investors. He added there was capacity “up to 20,000 barrels a day.”
Investors shared Willsher’s optimism, sending the company's stock up more than sevenfold since the beginning of the year to $5.75 at the close of trading on Friday. The stock plunged more than 40% in morning trading Monday.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and emerged a few months later. It had been using cash generated by the Beta field and others in Oklahoma and Texas to pay down $235 million in debt.
Some residents, business owners and environmentalists questioned whether authorities reacted quickly enough to contain the spill. People who live and work in the area said they noticed an oil sheen and a heavy petroleum smell Friday evening.
Booms were deployed on the ocean surface Sunday to try to contain the oil while divers sought to determine where and why the leak occurred. On land, there was a race to find animals harmed by the oil and to keep the spill from harming any more sensitive marshland.
But it was not until Saturday afternoon that the Coast Guard said an oil slick had been spotted and a unified command established to respond. And it took until Saturday night for the company to shut down the pipeline.
Rick Torgerson, owner of Blue Star Yacht Charter, said on Friday evening “people were emailing, and the neighbors were asking, ‘Do you smell that?’” By Saturday morning, boats were returning to the marina with their hulls covered in oil, he said.
Garry Brown, president of the environmental group Orange County Coastkeeper, decried a lack of initial coordination among the Coast Guard and local officials in dealing with the spreading oil slick.
“By the time it comes to the beach, it’s done tremendous damage. Our frustration is, it could have been averted if there was a quick response,” said Brown, who lives in Huntington Beach.
Some of the oil washed up on the shores of Orange County. The city and state beaches at Huntington Beach were closed, and late Sunday the city of Laguna Beach, just to the south, said its beaches also were closed.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said the beaches of the community nicknamed “Surf City” could remain closed for weeks or even months. The oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore in sticky black globules.
“In a year that has been filled with incredibly challenging issues, this oil spill constitutes one of the most devastating situations that our community has dealt with in decades,” Carr said. “We are doing everything in our power to protect the health and safety of our residents, our visitors and our natural habitats.”
Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said the pipeline and the company's three platforms were shut down Saturday night. The 17.5-mile (28.16-kilometer) pipeline that is 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) below the surface was suctioned out so no more oil would spill while the location of the leak was being investigated.
Crews led by the Coast Guard-deployed skimmers laid some 3,700 feet (1,128 meters) of floating barriers known as booms to try to stop more oil from seeping into areas including Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre (10-hectare) wetland officials said.
The oil will likely continue to wash up on the shore for several days and could affect Newport Beach and other nearby communities, officials said.
The spill comes three decades after a massive oil leak hit the same stretch of Orange County coast. On Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran over its anchor off Huntington Beach, spilling nearly 417,000 gallons (1.6 million liters) of crude. Fish and about 3,400 birds were killed.
In 2015, a ruptured pipeline north of Santa Barbara sent 143,000 gallons (541,313 liters) of crude oil gushing onto Refugio State Beach.
The area affected by the latest spill is home to threatened and endangered species, including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales.
___
Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker in Washington, D.C., Bernard Condon in New York, Felicia Fonseca in Phoenix and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.
Amy Taxin And Christopher Weber, The Associated Press
Company suspected in oil spill had dozens of violations
By AMY TAXIN and CHRISTOPHER WEBER
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The company whose pipeline is suspected in one of the largest oil spills in recent California history has been cited 72 times for safety and environmental violations that were severe enough that drilling had to be curtailed or stopped to fix the problem, regulatory records show.
In all, Beta Operating Co. has been cited 125 times since 1980, according to a database from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the federal agency that regulates the offshore oil and gas industry. The online database provides only the total number of violations, not the details for each incident.
The company was fined a total of $85,000 for three incidents. Two were from 2014, when a worker who was not wearing proper protective equipment was shocked with 98,000 volts of electricity, and a separate incident when crude oil was released through a boom where a safety device had been improperly bypassed.
Beta, which is a subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy, is under scrutiny after a suspected leak in an underwater pipeline sent 126,000 gallons (572,807 liters) of heavy crude into the ocean waters, fouling the sands of famed Huntington Beach and other coastal communities. The spill could keep beaches closed for weeks or longer.
An aerial photo shows the closed beach after oil washed up on Huntington Beach, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. A major oil spill off the coast of Southern California fouled popular beaches and killed wildlife while crews scrambled Sunday, to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Environmentalists had feared the oil might devastate birds and marine life in the area. But Michael Ziccardi, a veterinarian and director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, said only three oily birds had been found so far.
“At this point we’re cautiously optimistic related to the number of animals that may be affected,” he said Monday at a news conference.
Amplify operates three oil platforms about 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) off the coast of California, all installed between 1980 and 1984. The company also operates a 16-inch pipeline that carries oil from a processing platform to an onshore storage facility in Long Beach. The company has said the oil appears to be coming from a rupture in that pipeline about 4 miles (6.44 kilometers) from the platform.
Before the spill, Amplify had high hopes for the Beta oil field and was pouring millions of dollars into upgrades and new “side track” projects that would tap into oil by drilling laterally.
“We have the opportunity to keep going for as long as we want,” Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said in an August conference call with investors. He added there was capacity “up to 20,000 barrels a day.”
MORE ON CALIFORNIA OIL SPILL
– Oil spill laps at "heartbeat" of California beach community
Investors shared Willsher’s optimism, sending the company’s stock up more than sevenfold since the beginning of the year to $5.75 at the close of trading on Friday. The stock plunged more than 40% in morning trading Monday.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and emerged a few months later. It had been using cash generated by the Beta field and others in Oklahoma and Texas to pay down $235 million in debt.
Some residents, business owners and environmentalists questioned whether authorities reacted quickly enough to contain the spill. People who live and work in the area said they noticed an oil sheen and a heavy petroleum smell Friday evening.
Booms were deployed on the ocean surface Sunday to try to contain the oil while divers sought to determine where and why the leak occurred. On land, there was a race to find animals harmed by the oil and to keep the spill from harming any more sensitive marshland.
But it was not until Saturday afternoon that the Coast Guard said an oil slick had been spotted and a unified command established to respond. And it took until Saturday night for the company to shut down the pipeline.
Rick Torgerson, owner of Blue Star Yacht Charter, said on Friday evening “people were emailing, and the neighbors were asking, ‘Do you smell that?’” By Saturday morning, boats were returning to the marina with their hulls covered in oil, he said.
Garry Brown, president of the environmental group Orange County Coastkeeper, decried a lack of initial coordination among the Coast Guard and local officials in dealing with the spreading oil slick.
“By the time it comes to the beach, it’s done tremendous damage. Our frustration is, it could have been averted if there was a quick response,” said Brown, who lives in Huntington Beach.
Some of the oil washed up on the shores of Orange County. The city and state beaches at Huntington Beach were closed, and late Sunday the city of Laguna Beach, just to the south, said its beaches also were closed.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said the beaches of the community nicknamed “Surf City” could remain closed for weeks or even months. The oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore in sticky black globules.
“In a year that has been filled with incredibly challenging issues, this oil spill constitutes one of the most devastating situations that our community has dealt with in decades,” Carr said. “We are doing everything in our power to protect the health and safety of our residents, our visitors and our natural habitats.”
Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said the pipeline and the company’s three platforms were shut down Saturday night. The 17.5-mile (28.16-kilometer) pipeline that is 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) below the surface was suctioned out so no more oil would spill while the location of the leak was being investigated.
SEAGULLS EAT POISIONED FISH
Crews led by the Coast Guard-deployed skimmers laid some 3,700 feet (1,128 meters) of floating barriers known as booms to try to stop more oil from seeping into areas including Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre (10-hectare) wetland officials said.
The oil will likely continue to wash up on the shore for several days and could affect Newport Beach and other nearby communities, officials said.
The spill comes three decades after a massive oil leak hit the same stretch of Orange County coast. On Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran over its anchor off Huntington Beach, spilling nearly 417,000 gallons (1.6 million liters) of crude. Fish and about 3,400 birds were killed.
In 2015, a ruptured pipeline north of Santa Barbara sent 143,000 gallons (541,313 liters) of crude oil gushing onto Refugio State Beach.
The area affected by the latest spill is home to threatened and endangered species, including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales.
___
Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker in Washington, D.C., Bernard Condon in New York, Felicia Fonseca in Phoenix and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.
Crews led by the Coast Guard-deployed skimmers laid some 3,700 feet (1,128 meters) of floating barriers known as booms to try to stop more oil from seeping into areas including Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre (10-hectare) wetland officials said.
The oil will likely continue to wash up on the shore for several days and could affect Newport Beach and other nearby communities, officials said.
The spill comes three decades after a massive oil leak hit the same stretch of Orange County coast. On Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran over its anchor off Huntington Beach, spilling nearly 417,000 gallons (1.6 million liters) of crude. Fish and about 3,400 birds were killed.
In 2015, a ruptured pipeline north of Santa Barbara sent 143,000 gallons (541,313 liters) of crude oil gushing onto Refugio State Beach.
The area affected by the latest spill is home to threatened and endangered species, including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales.
___
Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker in Washington, D.C., Bernard Condon in New York, Felicia Fonseca in Phoenix and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.
California spill came 52 years after historic oil disaster
By CHRISTINA LARSON
By CHRISTINA LARSON
In this Feb. 7, 1969, file photo, workers collect oil-soaked straw from the beach at Santa Barbara, Calif., following a leak from an off-shore well that covered area beaches. The oil spill more than a generation ago helped give rise to the modern environmental movement itself. (AP Photo/File)
The weekend oil leak along the Southern California coast happened not far from the site of the catastrophe more than a generation ago that helped give rise to the modern environmental movement itself: the 1969 Santa Barbara spill.
That still ranks in the top tier of human-caused disasters in the United States and is the nation’s third-largest oil spill, behind only the 2010 Deepwater Horizon and 1989 Exxon Valdez calamities.
During a 10-day period in early 1969, between about 3.5 million and 4.2 million gallons of crude spilled into the Santa Barbara Channel after a blowout six miles offshore on a Union Oil drilling platform. The disaster area was about 115 miles from the site of the 126,000-gallon spill over the weekend that fouled Huntington Beach, a celebrated surfing spot.
The Union Oil rig had been controversial since its inception, but local California communities hadn’t been given any voice in decisions about drilling in federal waters. And corners were cut during the construction process: Regulations called for protective steel casing to extend at least 300 feet below the ocean floor, but the company obtained a waiver allowing it to install only 239 feet of casing.
In the aftermath of the spill, thousands of oil-coated birds perished and photos of the carnage on beaches were widely circulated in newspapers and magazines.
President Richard Nixon visited the site in March 1969 and told reporters, “It is sad that it was necessary that Santa Barbara should be the example that had to bring it to the attention of the American people.”
That example — of communities left out of crucial decisions and corners cut to save time or money for large companies — garnered national attention and caused outrage. It added momentum to the movement to organize the first Earth Day the next year.
Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson, an early environmentalist, visited the Santa Barbara oil spill site and later said it inspired him to organize “a nationwide teach-in on the environment.”
The oil spill was not the only U.S. environmental crisis in the 1960s. The links between rampant overuse of the pesticide DDT and damaged ecosystems — including the dwindling population of bald eagles — were the subject of Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book, “ Silent Spring.”
A raft of far-reaching federal environmental legislation was enacted in the early 1970s, including the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (1970) and the passage of the Clean Air Act (1970) and Clean Water Act (1972).
The weekend oil leak along the Southern California coast happened not far from the site of the catastrophe more than a generation ago that helped give rise to the modern environmental movement itself: the 1969 Santa Barbara spill.
That still ranks in the top tier of human-caused disasters in the United States and is the nation’s third-largest oil spill, behind only the 2010 Deepwater Horizon and 1989 Exxon Valdez calamities.
During a 10-day period in early 1969, between about 3.5 million and 4.2 million gallons of crude spilled into the Santa Barbara Channel after a blowout six miles offshore on a Union Oil drilling platform. The disaster area was about 115 miles from the site of the 126,000-gallon spill over the weekend that fouled Huntington Beach, a celebrated surfing spot.
The Union Oil rig had been controversial since its inception, but local California communities hadn’t been given any voice in decisions about drilling in federal waters. And corners were cut during the construction process: Regulations called for protective steel casing to extend at least 300 feet below the ocean floor, but the company obtained a waiver allowing it to install only 239 feet of casing.
In the aftermath of the spill, thousands of oil-coated birds perished and photos of the carnage on beaches were widely circulated in newspapers and magazines.
President Richard Nixon visited the site in March 1969 and told reporters, “It is sad that it was necessary that Santa Barbara should be the example that had to bring it to the attention of the American people.”
That example — of communities left out of crucial decisions and corners cut to save time or money for large companies — garnered national attention and caused outrage. It added momentum to the movement to organize the first Earth Day the next year.
Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson, an early environmentalist, visited the Santa Barbara oil spill site and later said it inspired him to organize “a nationwide teach-in on the environment.”
The oil spill was not the only U.S. environmental crisis in the 1960s. The links between rampant overuse of the pesticide DDT and damaged ecosystems — including the dwindling population of bald eagles — were the subject of Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book, “ Silent Spring.”
A raft of far-reaching federal environmental legislation was enacted in the early 1970s, including the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (1970) and the passage of the Clean Air Act (1970) and Clean Water Act (1972).
In this Feb. 6, 1969, file photo, state forestry conservation crews gather up oil-soaked straw on a beach in Santa Barbara, Calif. The oil spill more than a generation ago helped give rise to the modern environmental movement itself. (AP Photo/Wally Fong, File)
Response time questioned in Southern California oil spill
Garry Brown, president of the environmental group Orange County Coastkeeper, decried a lack of initial coordination among the Coast Guard and local officials in dealing with the spreading oil slick.
“By the time it comes to the beach, it’s done tremendous damage. Our frustration is, it could have been averted if there was a quick response,” said Brown, who lives in Huntington Beach.
An estimated 126,000 gallons (572,807 liters) of heavy crude leaked into the water and some washed up on the shores of Orange County. The city and state beaches at Huntington Beach were closed, and late Sunday the city of Laguna Beach, just to the south, said its beaches also were shuttered.
MORE ON CALIFORNIA OIL SPILL
– Oil spill laps at "heartbeat" of California beach community
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said the beaches of the community nicknamed “Surf City” could remain closed for weeks or even months. The oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore in sticky black globules.
“In a year that has been filled with incredibly challenging issues this oil spill constitutes one of the most devastating situations that our community has dealt with in decades,” Carr said. “We are doing everything in our power to protect the health and safety of our residents, our visitors and our natural habitats.”
Some birds and fish were caught in the muck and died, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said. But by early afternoon Saturday the U.S. Coast Guard said so far there was just one ruddy duck that was covered in oil and receiving veterinary care. “Other reports of oiled wildlife are being investigated,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The leaking pipeline connects to an oil production platform named Elly, which in turn is connected by a walkway to a drilling platform named Ellen. Those two platforms and another nearby platform are in federal waters and owned by Amplify Energy Corp.
Elly began operating in 1980 in an area called the Beta Field. Oil pulled from beneath the ocean and processed by Elly is taken by the pipeline to Long Beach.
Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said the pipeline and three platforms were shutdown Saturday night. The 17.5-mile (28.16-kilometer) pipeline that is 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) below the surface was suctioned out so no more oil would spill while the location of the leak was being investigated.
Crews led by the Coast Guard-deployed skimmers laid some 3,700 feet (1,128 meters) of floating barriers known as booms to try to stop more oil from seeping into areas including Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre (10-hectare) wetland officials said.
A petroleum stench permeated the air throughout the area. “You get the taste in the mouth just from the vapors in the air,” Foley said.
The oil will likely continue to wash up on the shore for several days and affect Newport Beach and other nearby communities, officials said.
The closure included all of Huntington Beach, from the city’s north edge about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) south to the Santa Ana River jetty. The shutdown came amid summerlike weather that would have brought big crowds to the wide strand for volleyball, swimming and surfing. Yellow caution tape was strung between lifeguard towers to keep people away.
Officials canceled the final day of the annual Pacific Air Show that typically draws tens of thousands of spectators to the city of about 200,000 residents south of Los Angeles. The show featured flyovers by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.
Huntington Beach resident David Rapchun said he’s worried about the impact of the spill on the beaches where he grew up as well as the local economy.
“For the amount of oil these things produce I don’t think it’s worth the risk,” Rapchun said. He questioned whether drilling for oil was a wise idea along some of Southern California’s most scenic beaches, noting the loss of the final day of the air show could deal a blow to the local economy.
“We need oil, but there’s always a question: Do we need it there?” he said.
The spill comes three decades after a massive oil leak hit the same stretch of Orange County coast. On Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran over its anchor off Huntington Beach, spilling nearly 417,000 gallons (1.6 million liters) of crude. Fish and about 3,400 birds were killed.
In 2015, a ruptured pipeline north of Santa Barbara sent 143,000 gallons (541,313 liters) of crude oil gushing onto Refugio State Beach.
The area affected by the latest spill is home to threatened and endangered species, including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales.
“The coastal areas off of Southern California are just really rich for wildlife, a key biodiversity hot spot,” said Miyoko Sakashita, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s oceans program.
The effects of an oil spill are wide-ranging, environmentalists said. Birds that get oil on their feathers can’t fly, can’t clean themselves and can’t monitor their own temperatures, Sakashita said. Whales, dolphins and other sea creatures can have trouble breathing or die after swimming through oil or breathing in toxic fumes, she said.
“The oil spill just shows how dirty and dangerous oil drilling is and oil that gets into the water. It’s impossible to clean it up so it ends up washing up on our beaches and people come into contact with it and wildlife comes in contact with it,” she said. “It has long-lasting effects on the breeding and reproduction of animals. It’s really sad to see this broad swatch oiled.”
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Associated Press reporters Felicia Fonseca in Phoenix and Julie Walker in New York contributed.
By AMY TAXIN and CHRISTOPHER WEBER
1 of 44
1 of 44
Cleanup contractors unload collected oil in plastic bags trying to stop further oil crude incursion into the Wetlands Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. One of the largest oil spills in recent Southern California history fouled popular beaches and killed wildlife while crews scrambled Sunday to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Some residents, business owners and environmentalists questioned whether authorities reacted quickly enough to contain one of the largest oil spills in recent California history, caused by a suspected leak in an underwater pipeline that fouled the sands of famed Huntington Beach and could keep the beaches there closed for weeks or longer.
Booms were deployed on the ocean surface Sunday to try to contain the oil while divers sought to determine where and why the leak occurred. On land, there was a race to find animals harmed by the oil and to keep the spill from harming any more sensitive marshland.
People who live and work in the area said they noticed an oil sheen and a heavy petroleum smell Friday evening.
But it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that the Coast Guard said an oil slick had been spotted and a unified command established to respond. And it took until Saturday night for the company that operates the pipeline believed responsible for the leak to shut down operations.
Rick Torgerson, owner of Blue Star Yacht Charter said on Friday evening “people were emailing, and the neighbors were asking, ‘do you smell that?’” By Saturday morning boats were returning to the marina with their hulls covered in oil, he said.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Some residents, business owners and environmentalists questioned whether authorities reacted quickly enough to contain one of the largest oil spills in recent California history, caused by a suspected leak in an underwater pipeline that fouled the sands of famed Huntington Beach and could keep the beaches there closed for weeks or longer.
Booms were deployed on the ocean surface Sunday to try to contain the oil while divers sought to determine where and why the leak occurred. On land, there was a race to find animals harmed by the oil and to keep the spill from harming any more sensitive marshland.
People who live and work in the area said they noticed an oil sheen and a heavy petroleum smell Friday evening.
But it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that the Coast Guard said an oil slick had been spotted and a unified command established to respond. And it took until Saturday night for the company that operates the pipeline believed responsible for the leak to shut down operations.
Rick Torgerson, owner of Blue Star Yacht Charter said on Friday evening “people were emailing, and the neighbors were asking, ‘do you smell that?’” By Saturday morning boats were returning to the marina with their hulls covered in oil, he said.
Garry Brown, president of the environmental group Orange County Coastkeeper, decried a lack of initial coordination among the Coast Guard and local officials in dealing with the spreading oil slick.
“By the time it comes to the beach, it’s done tremendous damage. Our frustration is, it could have been averted if there was a quick response,” said Brown, who lives in Huntington Beach.
An estimated 126,000 gallons (572,807 liters) of heavy crude leaked into the water and some washed up on the shores of Orange County. The city and state beaches at Huntington Beach were closed, and late Sunday the city of Laguna Beach, just to the south, said its beaches also were shuttered.
MORE ON CALIFORNIA OIL SPILL
– Oil spill laps at "heartbeat" of California beach community
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said the beaches of the community nicknamed “Surf City” could remain closed for weeks or even months. The oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore in sticky black globules.
“In a year that has been filled with incredibly challenging issues this oil spill constitutes one of the most devastating situations that our community has dealt with in decades,” Carr said. “We are doing everything in our power to protect the health and safety of our residents, our visitors and our natural habitats.”
Some birds and fish were caught in the muck and died, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said. But by early afternoon Saturday the U.S. Coast Guard said so far there was just one ruddy duck that was covered in oil and receiving veterinary care. “Other reports of oiled wildlife are being investigated,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The leaking pipeline connects to an oil production platform named Elly, which in turn is connected by a walkway to a drilling platform named Ellen. Those two platforms and another nearby platform are in federal waters and owned by Amplify Energy Corp.
Elly began operating in 1980 in an area called the Beta Field. Oil pulled from beneath the ocean and processed by Elly is taken by the pipeline to Long Beach.
Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said the pipeline and three platforms were shutdown Saturday night. The 17.5-mile (28.16-kilometer) pipeline that is 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) below the surface was suctioned out so no more oil would spill while the location of the leak was being investigated.
Crews led by the Coast Guard-deployed skimmers laid some 3,700 feet (1,128 meters) of floating barriers known as booms to try to stop more oil from seeping into areas including Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre (10-hectare) wetland officials said.
A petroleum stench permeated the air throughout the area. “You get the taste in the mouth just from the vapors in the air,” Foley said.
The oil will likely continue to wash up on the shore for several days and affect Newport Beach and other nearby communities, officials said.
The closure included all of Huntington Beach, from the city’s north edge about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) south to the Santa Ana River jetty. The shutdown came amid summerlike weather that would have brought big crowds to the wide strand for volleyball, swimming and surfing. Yellow caution tape was strung between lifeguard towers to keep people away.
Officials canceled the final day of the annual Pacific Air Show that typically draws tens of thousands of spectators to the city of about 200,000 residents south of Los Angeles. The show featured flyovers by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.
Huntington Beach resident David Rapchun said he’s worried about the impact of the spill on the beaches where he grew up as well as the local economy.
“For the amount of oil these things produce I don’t think it’s worth the risk,” Rapchun said. He questioned whether drilling for oil was a wise idea along some of Southern California’s most scenic beaches, noting the loss of the final day of the air show could deal a blow to the local economy.
“We need oil, but there’s always a question: Do we need it there?” he said.
The spill comes three decades after a massive oil leak hit the same stretch of Orange County coast. On Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran over its anchor off Huntington Beach, spilling nearly 417,000 gallons (1.6 million liters) of crude. Fish and about 3,400 birds were killed.
In 2015, a ruptured pipeline north of Santa Barbara sent 143,000 gallons (541,313 liters) of crude oil gushing onto Refugio State Beach.
The area affected by the latest spill is home to threatened and endangered species, including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales.
“The coastal areas off of Southern California are just really rich for wildlife, a key biodiversity hot spot,” said Miyoko Sakashita, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s oceans program.
The effects of an oil spill are wide-ranging, environmentalists said. Birds that get oil on their feathers can’t fly, can’t clean themselves and can’t monitor their own temperatures, Sakashita said. Whales, dolphins and other sea creatures can have trouble breathing or die after swimming through oil or breathing in toxic fumes, she said.
“The oil spill just shows how dirty and dangerous oil drilling is and oil that gets into the water. It’s impossible to clean it up so it ends up washing up on our beaches and people come into contact with it and wildlife comes in contact with it,” she said. “It has long-lasting effects on the breeding and reproduction of animals. It’s really sad to see this broad swatch oiled.”
___
Associated Press reporters Felicia Fonseca in Phoenix and Julie Walker in New York contributed.
126,000-gallon oil spill leaves dead wildlife on Southern California coast
More than 126,000 gallons of oil have spilled off the coast of Huntington Beach, Calif., creating "toxicity" in the area and leaving dead wildlife washed up on the beach.
Photo by Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley/Twitter
Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A major oil spill has dumped about 126,000 gallons of post-production crude off the coast of Southern California, officials said Sunday as cleanup crews raced to prevent further environmental degradation.
Authorities said during a press conference that the pipeline breach occurred about 5 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach in Orange County on Saturday.
Local and federal agencies have been deployed to the Southern California coast to initiate cleanup operations.
Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A major oil spill has dumped about 126,000 gallons of post-production crude off the coast of Southern California, officials said Sunday as cleanup crews raced to prevent further environmental degradation.
Authorities said during a press conference that the pipeline breach occurred about 5 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach in Orange County on Saturday.
Local and federal agencies have been deployed to the Southern California coast to initiate cleanup operations.
Photo courtesy of City of Huntington Beach/Facebook
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley told reporters that oil has already infiltrated many of its wetlands, including the Talbert Wetlands, and they are doing "everything they can" to prevent further contamination.
In a statement late Sunday, Foley said the presence of oil in Hunting Beach has become "slightly more acute" as they have seen an increasing amount wash ashore.
"There has been a significant amount of ecological impact, including loss of birds and fish, which have been reported as washing up on shore," Foley said.
A total of 3,150 gallons of oily water has been removed, she said, adding that nine boats and three shoreline assessment teams have been dispatched for oil spill recovery operations along with 3,700 feet of boom deployed.
A health advisory has also been issued encouraging residents who may have come into contact with contaminated materials to seek medical attention.
Officials have urged residents to stay away from the beaches and those who may have come into contact with contaminated materials to seek medical attention.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley told reporters that oil has already infiltrated many of its wetlands, including the Talbert Wetlands, and they are doing "everything they can" to prevent further contamination.
In a statement late Sunday, Foley said the presence of oil in Hunting Beach has become "slightly more acute" as they have seen an increasing amount wash ashore.
"There has been a significant amount of ecological impact, including loss of birds and fish, which have been reported as washing up on shore," Foley said.
A total of 3,150 gallons of oily water has been removed, she said, adding that nine boats and three shoreline assessment teams have been dispatched for oil spill recovery operations along with 3,700 feet of boom deployed.
A health advisory has also been issued encouraging residents who may have come into contact with contaminated materials to seek medical attention.
Officials have urged residents to stay away from the beaches and those who may have come into contact with contaminated materials to seek medical attention.
Photo courtesy of City of Huntington Beach/Twitter
"Even when an oil sheen may not be visible, dispersed and dissolved oil contaminates may exist in the water," Orange County Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau said in a statement.
The City of Huntington Beach said in a statement that the spill measures approximately 5.8 nautical miles stretching from the Huntington Beach Pier to Newport Beach, forcing a closure of the ocean from the Pier to the Santa Ana River jetty.
"The spill has significantly affected Huntington Beach, with substantial ecological impacts occurring at the beach and at the Huntington Beach Wetlands," the city said. "In response, Huntington Beach Fire and Marine Safety personnel have been deployed throughout the day to implement environmental containment efforts."
"Even when an oil sheen may not be visible, dispersed and dissolved oil contaminates may exist in the water," Orange County Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau said in a statement.
The City of Huntington Beach said in a statement that the spill measures approximately 5.8 nautical miles stretching from the Huntington Beach Pier to Newport Beach, forcing a closure of the ocean from the Pier to the Santa Ana River jetty.
"The spill has significantly affected Huntington Beach, with substantial ecological impacts occurring at the beach and at the Huntington Beach Wetlands," the city said. "In response, Huntington Beach Fire and Marine Safety personnel have been deployed throughout the day to implement environmental containment efforts."
On Sunday night, the city said via Facebook that federal, state and regional agencies have deployed cleanup crews and skimming boats to remove oil from the environment.
The U.S. Coast Guard said an oil sheen off the coast was first reported at 9:10 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The pipeline is owned by Houston-based oil and gas company Amplify Energy, President and CEO Martyn Willsher said during the news conference.
"We are fully committed to being out here until this incident is fully concluded," Willsher said.
Some 3,700 feet of boom have been deployed to prevent oil from further impacting wetlands. Photo courtesy of City of Huntington Beach/Twitter
As of early Sunday morning, city officials said the leak had not yet been stopped but preliminary patching to repair the oil spill site has been completed as the U.S. Coast Guard will continue to respond to the incident.
The city also urged individuals to avoid the beach due to the "toxicity created by the spill" and city leadership canceled the Pacific Airshow, which was scheduled for Sunday to facilitate clean-up efforts.
Earlier Sunday, Foley tweeted that oil had washed up onto the beachfront along with dead birds and fish.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said Coast Guard information indicates the spill may have been the result of an oil release from an offshore oil production off the coast.
Republican Rep. Michelle Steel sent a letter Sunday to President Joe Biden urging him to authorize a major disaster declaration for her Orange County community.
"Your approval of this request is imperative for a swift recovery and the support of assistance efforts for all Californians," she wrote. "Dead fish and birds are already being reported on beaches and shorelines."
The oil spill forced the city of Huntington Beach to cancel the Pacific Airshow scheduled for Sunday.
No exact cause for the spill has been determined and the Coast Guard is conducting an investigation.
The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted two investigators have been dispatched to investigate.
The U.S. Coast Guard said an oil sheen off the coast was first reported at 9:10 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The pipeline is owned by Houston-based oil and gas company Amplify Energy, President and CEO Martyn Willsher said during the news conference.
"We are fully committed to being out here until this incident is fully concluded," Willsher said.
Some 3,700 feet of boom have been deployed to prevent oil from further impacting wetlands. Photo courtesy of City of Huntington Beach/Twitter
As of early Sunday morning, city officials said the leak had not yet been stopped but preliminary patching to repair the oil spill site has been completed as the U.S. Coast Guard will continue to respond to the incident.
The city also urged individuals to avoid the beach due to the "toxicity created by the spill" and city leadership canceled the Pacific Airshow, which was scheduled for Sunday to facilitate clean-up efforts.
Earlier Sunday, Foley tweeted that oil had washed up onto the beachfront along with dead birds and fish.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said Coast Guard information indicates the spill may have been the result of an oil release from an offshore oil production off the coast.
Republican Rep. Michelle Steel sent a letter Sunday to President Joe Biden urging him to authorize a major disaster declaration for her Orange County community.
"Your approval of this request is imperative for a swift recovery and the support of assistance efforts for all Californians," she wrote. "Dead fish and birds are already being reported on beaches and shorelines."
The oil spill forced the city of Huntington Beach to cancel the Pacific Airshow scheduled for Sunday.
No exact cause for the spill has been determined and the Coast Guard is conducting an investigation.
The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted two investigators have been dispatched to investigate.
KQED News Staff and Wires
Oct 3
Oil is washed up on Huntington State Beach after a 126,000-gallon oil spill from an offshore oil platform on October 3, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California. The spill forced the closure of the popular Great Pacific Airshow with authorities urging people to avoid beaches in the vicinity. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
One of the largest oil spills in recent Southern California history fouled popular beaches that could end up closed for months as crews scrambled Sunday to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands.
Divers are trying to determine where and why the leak occurred, but the flow of oil was stopped late Saturday from the pipeline that runs under the ocean off Huntington Beach, according to the head of the company that operates the line.
At least 126,000 gallons of crude spilled into the waters off Orange County starting late Friday or early Saturday when boaters began reporting a sheen in the water, officials said.
Some in the wider Bay Area, like the UC Davis Oiled Wildlife Care Network, are already responding. They sent field teams down to Huntington Beach to help wildlife that have been coated in the crude oil. They are also assessing how many volunteers they need to send for support.
"All of our teams have 'go bags' where items are packed and ready to go," said Eunah Preston, a spokesperson for the UC Davis-based wildlife network. "There's no hesitation, really."
While the amount of crude that's spilled has raised the eyebrows of experts, Amplify Energy CEO Martyn Willsher said that'll be the last of it.
“I don’t expect it to be more. That’s the capacity of the entire pipeline,” Willsher said. He said the pipeline was suctioned out and dozens of nearby oil platforms operated by Amplify were shut down
.
Cleanup workers attempt to contain oil which seeped into Talbert Marsh, which is home to around 90 bird species, after a 126,000-gallon oil spill from an offshore oil platform on October 3, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California. The spill forced the closure of the popular Great Pacific Airshow with authorities urging people to avoid beaches in the vicinity. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
It was one of the largest oil spills in recent Southern California history, shoring up black oil on the strand in Huntington Beach, the town known as Surf City USA. Crews scrambled to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said the city's famous beaches could remain closed for weeks or even months.
“In a year that has been filled with incredibly challenging issues this oil spill constitutes one of the most devastating situations that our community has dealt with in decades,” Carr said.
The oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore in sticky, black globules.
"I believe we are seeing a much better oil spill response due to the time we took after the Cosco Busan spill to really understand what went wrong."Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper
Some birds and fish were caught in the muck and killed, said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley. But the U.S. Coast Guard said there was a report of just one duck that was covered in oil and receiving veterinary care. “Other reports of oiled wildlife are being investigated,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
Coordination between various branches of government that deal with oil spills have improved over the past decade, according to Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental advocacy group.
Oil spill-oriented-reforms sprung from the sluggish response to San Francisco's Cosco Busan spill of 2007, when the Cosco Busan container ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, ripping a hole in the boat's hull.
It was one of the largest oil spills in recent Southern California history, shoring up black oil on the strand in Huntington Beach, the town known as Surf City USA. Crews scrambled to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said the city's famous beaches could remain closed for weeks or even months.
“In a year that has been filled with incredibly challenging issues this oil spill constitutes one of the most devastating situations that our community has dealt with in decades,” Carr said.
The oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore in sticky, black globules.
"I believe we are seeing a much better oil spill response due to the time we took after the Cosco Busan spill to really understand what went wrong."Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper
Some birds and fish were caught in the muck and killed, said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley. But the U.S. Coast Guard said there was a report of just one duck that was covered in oil and receiving veterinary care. “Other reports of oiled wildlife are being investigated,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
Coordination between various branches of government that deal with oil spills have improved over the past decade, according to Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental advocacy group.
Oil spill-oriented-reforms sprung from the sluggish response to San Francisco's Cosco Busan spill of 2007, when the Cosco Busan container ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, ripping a hole in the boat's hull.
A 90 foot gash is visible on the side of the freighter ship Cosco Busan as it sits anchored in the San Francisco Bay November 13, 2007 in San Francisco, California.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
More than 53,000 gallons of oil spilled into San Francisco Bay and sat there — for hours — with little initial effort to contain it.
Choksi-Chugh was in a boat herself with an SF Baykeeper crew, measuring the distance of the spill. Their crew ended up urging the government to revise its estimation of the spill's size to be larger than it was initially reported.
At first, reports said Cosco Busan spilled 400 gallons, but "we found out about eight hours later it was a 53,000-gallon oil spill," Choksi-Chugh said.
The lackadaisical response in San Francisco's waters led to an overhaul of state oil-spill responses, though some of the changes didn't go as far as advocates had hoped, according to SF Baykeeper.
In the aftermath, oil-spill response plans were developed for the Bay Area and other localities, and communication was streamlined between some agencies. Activists also called for increased investment in quickly training and onboarding volunteers to help clean beaches and save wildlife.
"I believe we are seeing a much better oil spill response due to the time we took after the Cosco Busan spill to really understand what went wrong," Choksi-Chugh said. "When you come up with two hundred different ways that oil spill response went wrong back in 2007, you better believe there's going to be improvements."
More than 53,000 gallons of oil spilled into San Francisco Bay and sat there — for hours — with little initial effort to contain it.
Choksi-Chugh was in a boat herself with an SF Baykeeper crew, measuring the distance of the spill. Their crew ended up urging the government to revise its estimation of the spill's size to be larger than it was initially reported.
At first, reports said Cosco Busan spilled 400 gallons, but "we found out about eight hours later it was a 53,000-gallon oil spill," Choksi-Chugh said.
The lackadaisical response in San Francisco's waters led to an overhaul of state oil-spill responses, though some of the changes didn't go as far as advocates had hoped, according to SF Baykeeper.
In the aftermath, oil-spill response plans were developed for the Bay Area and other localities, and communication was streamlined between some agencies. Activists also called for increased investment in quickly training and onboarding volunteers to help clean beaches and save wildlife.
"I believe we are seeing a much better oil spill response due to the time we took after the Cosco Busan spill to really understand what went wrong," Choksi-Chugh said. "When you come up with two hundred different ways that oil spill response went wrong back in 2007, you better believe there's going to be improvements."
Oil booms lay on the beach at Crissy Field November 12, 2007 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Much of that cleanup was underway nearly immediately in Huntingon Beach over the weekend.
Crews led by the Coast Guard deployed skimmers and some 3,700 feet of floating barriers known as booms to try to stop further incursion into areas including Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre wetland in Huntington Beach, officials said.
A petroleum stench permeated the air throughout the area.
“You get the taste in the mouth just from the vapors in the air,” Supervisor Foley said.
The oil will likely continue to approach the Orange County coast, including Newport Beach to the south, over the next few days, officials said.
The oil slick originated from a pipeline connected to an offshore oil platform known as Elly, Foley said on Twitter. Elly is connected by walkway to another platform, Ellen, located just over 8.5 miles off Long Beach, according to the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said people in Northern California should be concerned about Southern California spills because "we are all one coast." Wildlife experts have noted that migratory animals people spot even from the Bay Area, like whales, often swim up from Southern California.
"I'm horrified, of course," Huffman said.
Cosco Busan was somewhat different because the oil came from a ship, versus a pipeline, but "whether it's a ship, whether it's a pipeline, whether it's inland, or coastal, the bottom line is these accidents happen all the time," and that the United States' dependence on oil is "no way to power an economy, and we don't have to do it anymore." He said this should be "a wake-up call" for a transition to clean and safer energy.
Much of that cleanup was underway nearly immediately in Huntingon Beach over the weekend.
Crews led by the Coast Guard deployed skimmers and some 3,700 feet of floating barriers known as booms to try to stop further incursion into areas including Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre wetland in Huntington Beach, officials said.
A petroleum stench permeated the air throughout the area.
“You get the taste in the mouth just from the vapors in the air,” Supervisor Foley said.
The oil will likely continue to approach the Orange County coast, including Newport Beach to the south, over the next few days, officials said.
The oil slick originated from a pipeline connected to an offshore oil platform known as Elly, Foley said on Twitter. Elly is connected by walkway to another platform, Ellen, located just over 8.5 miles off Long Beach, according to the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said people in Northern California should be concerned about Southern California spills because "we are all one coast." Wildlife experts have noted that migratory animals people spot even from the Bay Area, like whales, often swim up from Southern California.
"I'm horrified, of course," Huffman said.
Cosco Busan was somewhat different because the oil came from a ship, versus a pipeline, but "whether it's a ship, whether it's a pipeline, whether it's inland, or coastal, the bottom line is these accidents happen all the time," and that the United States' dependence on oil is "no way to power an economy, and we don't have to do it anymore." He said this should be "a wake-up call" for a transition to clean and safer energy.
Cleanup workers (R) attempt to contain oil which seeped into Talbert Marsh, which is home to around 90 bird species, after a 126,000-gallon oil spill from an offshore oil platform on October 3, 2021 in Huntington Beach, California. The spill forced the closure of the popular Great Pacific Airshow with authorities urging people to avoid beaches in the vicinity. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The Huntington Beach spill comes three decades after a massive oil leak hit the same stretch of Orange County coast. On Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran over its anchor off Huntington Beach, spilling nearly 417,000 gallons of crude. Fish and about 3,400 birds were killed.
In 2015, a ruptured pipeline north of Santa Barbara sent 143,000 gallons of crude oil gushing onto Refugio State Beach.
At a news conference Saturday night, Orange County officials expressed concern about the environmental impacts of the spill and hoped crews could stop the oil before it flowed into sensitive wetlands.
“We’ve been working with our federal, state and county partners to mitigate the impact that could be a potential ecological disaster,” Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said.
The area is home to threatened and endangered species — including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales — a fishing industry and migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway.
“The coastal areas off of Southern California are just really rich for wildlife, a key biodiversity hot spot,” said Miyoko Sakashita, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s oceans program.
The effects of an oil spill are wide-ranging, environmentalists said. Birds that get oil on their feathers can’t fly, can’t clean themselves and can’t monitor their own temperatures, Sakashita said. Whales, dolphins and other sea creatures can have trouble breathing or die after swimming through oil or breathing in toxic fumes, she said.
The Huntington Beach spill comes three decades after a massive oil leak hit the same stretch of Orange County coast. On Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran over its anchor off Huntington Beach, spilling nearly 417,000 gallons of crude. Fish and about 3,400 birds were killed.
In 2015, a ruptured pipeline north of Santa Barbara sent 143,000 gallons of crude oil gushing onto Refugio State Beach.
At a news conference Saturday night, Orange County officials expressed concern about the environmental impacts of the spill and hoped crews could stop the oil before it flowed into sensitive wetlands.
“We’ve been working with our federal, state and county partners to mitigate the impact that could be a potential ecological disaster,” Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said.
The area is home to threatened and endangered species — including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales — a fishing industry and migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway.
“The coastal areas off of Southern California are just really rich for wildlife, a key biodiversity hot spot,” said Miyoko Sakashita, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s oceans program.
The effects of an oil spill are wide-ranging, environmentalists said. Birds that get oil on their feathers can’t fly, can’t clean themselves and can’t monitor their own temperatures, Sakashita said. Whales, dolphins and other sea creatures can have trouble breathing or die after swimming through oil or breathing in toxic fumes, she said.
A bird spreads its wings as it stands in the water at the Berkeley Marina November 27, 2007 in Berkeley, California. Almost three weeks after the freighter ship Cosco Busan struck the San Francisco Bay Bridge and spilled58,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the bay, nearly 2,150 birds have died and more continue to be found with oil-soaked feathers. Biologists are estimating that more than 20,000 birds may have died as a result of the spill but have not been found yet. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Sakashita keenly remembers the Cosco Busan oil spill near the Bay Bridge, and then havoc it wreaked from beaches and shallow pools to the deepest reaches of San Francisco Bay. She was among the staff that advocated for improving oversight of oil in California after that Bay Area spill.
This new spill down in southern California is "about twice that size" of the Cosco Busan spill, Sakashita noted.
"A lot of us remember going out and seeing the oil washing up on the shores and just feeling so helpless about what can be done to clean up a spill like that in the Bay, and that same thing is really devastating off of Huntington Beach right now," she said. "It's definitely a horrific reminder that oil and gas and all of the fossil fuels that are being so heavily used right now are just dirty and dangerous, and we need to shift off of that."
KQED's Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez and Annelise Finney in the Bay Area contributed to this report, as did Associated Press reporters Amy Taxin, Christopher Weber, Felicia Fonseca, and Julie Walker.
Sakashita keenly remembers the Cosco Busan oil spill near the Bay Bridge, and then havoc it wreaked from beaches and shallow pools to the deepest reaches of San Francisco Bay. She was among the staff that advocated for improving oversight of oil in California after that Bay Area spill.
This new spill down in southern California is "about twice that size" of the Cosco Busan spill, Sakashita noted.
"A lot of us remember going out and seeing the oil washing up on the shores and just feeling so helpless about what can be done to clean up a spill like that in the Bay, and that same thing is really devastating off of Huntington Beach right now," she said. "It's definitely a horrific reminder that oil and gas and all of the fossil fuels that are being so heavily used right now are just dirty and dangerous, and we need to shift off of that."
KQED's Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez and Annelise Finney in the Bay Area contributed to this report, as did Associated Press reporters Amy Taxin, Christopher Weber, Felicia Fonseca, and Julie Walker.
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