More than 120,000 gallons of crude oil believed to have originated from a pipeline has leaked into the coastal waters off the Orange County coast hit Huntington Beach on Saturday night, prompting coastal closures and emergency responses to protect the area’s ecological preserves, wetlands and marshes.
The city officials are calling the leak a potential ecological disaster.
The Coast Guard received an initial report of an oil sheen off the coast of Newport Beach Saturday at approximately 9:10 a.m. The Coast Guard and Huntington Beach Police Department were dispatched aircraft to access the situation.
According to the Coast Guard, which reported the incident at 12:18 p.m., the slick was approximately three miles off Newport Beach and 13 square miles in size.
The Coast Guard is calling the leak a major spill. Officials are working through the night to determine the impact to the environment, but are urging residents in the area to stay out of the water, not to swim or surf, as they evaluate the situation.
The oil leak is believed to have originated from a pipeline leak, pouring 126,000 gallons into the coastal waters and seeping into the Talbert Marsh as lifeguards deployed floating barriers known as booms to try to stop further incursion, said Jennifer Carey, Huntington Beach city spokesperson.
“We classify this as a major spill, and it is a high priority to us to mitigate any environmental concerns,” Carey said. “It’s all hands on deck.”
Oil has already washed up on the beachfront in Huntington Beach, and “we’ve started to find dead birds & fish washing up on the shore,” tweeted Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, whose district includes Huntington Beach.
Oil was still continuing to spill about five miles off the coast of Huntington Beach from a broken pipeline connected to an offshore oil platform known as Elly, Foley wrote. Foley said Newport Beach Mayor Brad Avery told her that “he hit the oil slick in his boat … heading back from Catalina. He saw dolphins swimming thru the oil.”
The areas just offshore from the Southern California coast are a major source of oil. The platform Elly, located in federal waters off the Los Angeles County coast, was installed in 1980 and processes crude oil production from two other platforms. Elly sits atop a large reservoir of crude oil that is called Beta Field, which sits atop waters managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
In a statement issued just before 1 a.m. Sunday, Huntington Beach officials said oil is still leaking into the ocean, and more work needs to be done after sunrise to repair the leak.
The City of Huntington Beach said 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.
“While the leak has not been completely stopped, preliminary patching has been completed to repair the oil spill site. Additional repair efforts will be attempted in the morning,” the city said in a statement. “At this time, due to the toxicity created by the spill, the city is asking that all individuals remain clear of the beach and avoid coming into contact with oiled areas.”
The final day of the three-day Pacific Airshow, which had been scheduled for Sunday, has been canceled. The air show this year featured flyovers by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and the Canadian Forces Snowbirds.
(With input from agencies)
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