Latest: Progress in cleaning Huntington Beach is being made by crews as the amount of crude oil and slimed vegetation decreases each day. So far, they have collected half a million pounds of tar balls, oil contaminated sand, seaweed, and driftwood. Tarred animals have not been found in a week. One third of the beach is nearing final clean up approval, although it was opened to the public soon after the spill. It may take several more weeks for opening of fisheries, as the testing for trace amounts of hydrocarbon is underway. The pipeline, believed to have been ruptured by a ship's anchor, leaked for twenty-four hours before being shut down. Fortunately for wildlife and nearby nature preserves, the spill was not has bad as been feared by environmentalists. Much of the oil was dispersed by wind and currents before it washed ashore.
Update: {06/11/21}The news from Huntington Beach is getting worse, unsurprisingly. Despite efforts to contain the spill which is now estimated at 144,000 gallons of crude, the toxic sludge has leaked into a restored salt water marsh that is a refuge for ninety species of water birds. For the second time in its short history Talbert Marsh is slicked with oil. Created in 1989 it is one of a few wild habitats along this stretch of Southern California coastline. Ninety percent of California's wetlands have been lost to development. Conservationists cobbled together $750,000 in state and federal money to create the 25 acre wetland sandwiched between the ocean and upscale homes. Talbert is connected to Magnolia Marsh and Brookhurst Marsh and all three are now polluted. Cleaning such a sensitive ecosystem will be a huge task. Fortunately, the spill has missed the largestt salt water marsh in the region, Bolsa Chica, as winds and currents carry the oil slick south.
{04/10/21}Huntington Beach, CA, known as "Surf City" is being smeared by the oil industry again.. Its famous beaches are awash with globs of sticky crude oil from a burst oil pipeline connect to offshore oil platforms. Residents noticed an oil sheen on the waters Friday evening, but it was not until Saturday afternoon that the pipeline owner Amplify Energy Corporation shut down operations. An estimated 126,000 gallon have been spilled so far. The company said it evacuated the 17 mile long undersea pipeline to prevent further spills. Production from the platforms on the OCS have stopped. The oil will continue to wash ashore and affect nearby communities, including exclusive Newport Beach for weeks.The Repugnant congressperson for Orange County has asked for federal aid to clean up the spill.
As usual wildlife has taken the brunt of the toxic spill. The area is home to threatened species including the humpback whale, snowy plovers and least tern. Oiled birds cannot care for their feathers and marine mammals have trouble breathing in the toxic fumes released by the crude. Dead fish an birds have been found, but so far only a few survivors have been treated by veterinarians. Crews have dieployed booms and skimmers attempting to prevent the oil from polluting the Bolsa Chica ecological reserve. [photo credit: UK Independent] Beaches are now closed. Residents question the value of production platforms producing marginal amounts of oil so close to a recreational and natural area of significant value. Conservationist have pushed for automatic detection systems that could shut down a pipeline if it springs a leak, but industry operators have resisted that requirement as too expensive.
In 1990 the tanker American Trader ran aground off Huntington Beach, spilling 416,000 gallons of crude oil. Some of that oil contaminated plants in Talbert Marsh that had only been planted a year before. It took fifteen years for the marsh to recover. The situation is a little better this time as a quick response has prevented an even more severe contamination, and there is a wildlife center to care for birds and other species contaminated with crude. Amplify Energy Inc's leaking pipe has a thirteen inch gash in it and is displace more than a hundred feet from its original location according to the US Coast Guard. These facts indicate to US Person that something, perhaps an anchor from one of the container ships waiting to get into harbor, struck the pipe and dragged it along the seabed.
The last large spill at Huntington occurred three decades ago when an oil tanker ran over its anchor in 1990, spilling over 417,000 gallons of crude oil. In 2015 a ruptured pipe sent 143,000 gallon ashore at Refugio Beach, north of Santa Barbara. Typically the subsidiary company that owned the platforms and connecting pipeline, Beta Operating Co., had a history of federal regulatory violations with 125 violations in the last 11 years. Beta feild was owned by Memorial Production Partners until 2017 when the parent company filed for reorganization under Chapter 11. It emerged several months later as Amplify Energy, which is still heavily in debt. The Beta oil field has been owned by at least seven different corporations since it was discovered by Royal Dutch Shell in 1976, records show. The corporate predecessor of Amplify bought the operation in 2012.