Massive 126,000+ Gallon Oil Spill In California Kills Wildlife & Shuts Down Beachfronts
There’s been another oil spill. This time it’s off the coast of California, and it is already having devastating effects. We are really hell-bent on destroying this planet, aren’t we? KTLA reported that several beachfront areas have been closed from the Huntington Beach Pier down to Newport Beach.
The oil slick was noticed on Saturday and is believed to have come from a leaking pipeline connected to an offshore oil platform, Elly. Elly is operated by Beta Offshore, which is a Long Beach unit of Houston’s Amplify Energy. The platform is located in federal waters off of the Los Angeles County coast. It processes crude oil production from two other platforms and is on top of the Beta Field, which is a large reservoir of crude oil. The waters, KTLA noted, are overseen by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Please avoid the beaches and Santa Ana River trail until we can finishing assessing the situation. We will keep you updated as we learn more. pic.twitter.com/b5TxT7oXSJ
— Supervisor Katrina Foley (@SupervisorFoley) October 3, 2021
The oil seeped into Huntington Beach and Talbert Marsh. The marsh is home to around 90 species of birds. Officials have measured a 5.8-mile oil plume running from the Huntington Beach Pier to Newport Beach. It’s “approximately 13 square miles in size.”
Local officials said: “Given the oil spill impacts, the decision was made by both the City and the State to close the ocean from the Pier all the way down to the Santa Ana River jetty. […]
“In order to facilitate clean-up efforts, and given the potential health impacts, the decision has been made to cancel the final day of the show due to yesterday’s spill.
“We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you in advance for your understanding.”
The Great Pacific Airshow canceled its final day due to the oil spill. This decision was made to help the city, U.S. Coast Guard, and state agencies to focus on the cleanup as well as the investigation. So far, there are 126,000 gallons spilled. Regarding the air show, officials stated:
“The City acknowledges the gravity of the decision to cancel the final day of the iconic Pacific Airshow and the disappointment that this decision will cause.
“However, the need for prompt and intensive intervention efforts requires complete and unfettered access to the marine environment.”
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley told KTLA that the oil was still leaking from the broken pipeline located five miles off the coast.
“It’s still leaking and the responsible party for this is underway right now trying to repair the leak from the pipeline.
“Please do not go in the water. I see that there are still some people out here fishing. This is a toxic area. You should not be fishing out here, and we should stay at least 50 feet from the shore.”
“We’re asking people to avoid going to the beach and to not touch the animals … because it is toxic.”
Featured image from City of Huntington Beach
Some other videos and updates:
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
