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A huge slick of oil hit the coast on Tuesday as authorities frantically tried to protect environmentally sensitive shores and investigators investigated whether a ship’s anchor had caused a breach in a pipeline that sent tens of thousands of gallons of crude in the waters off Orange County.
Oil continued to move south after fouling the beaches and wetlands of Huntington Beach on Sunday. While much of it remained off the coast, a portion ran aground at Laguna Beach. By Monday afternoon, the spill had reached Dana Point, prompting authorities to close the port and Baby Beach, which is located in the port, as the oil spill continues to move south along the coast.
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map projecting the movements of the oil spill, reviewed by the Times, indicated that the greatest threat to the shoreline remains in the area between Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach.
Officials involved in the spill response believed the oil reached San Diego County on Saturday night, according to documents obtained by The Times.
The spill was originally estimated at around 126,000 gallons of crude, but on Monday evening state and federal officials said that number could be closer to 144,000 gallons.
Coast Guard officials fly over the spill three to four times a day to map the direction of the oil and compare it with tides, currents and winds to project the potential impact on beaches to the south.
“It really depends on the prevailing weather conditions, but the oil continues to move south,” said Captain Rebecca Ore, USCG Los Angeles-Long Beach area commander.
Ore said the oil was detected as far south as Dana Point on Monday afternoon, but was not a significant mass.
“I would characterize it as isolated ribbons of oil, or patches of oil. It’s constantly changing, ”Ore said. “It’s not a big slick of oil covering this vast area for miles.”
On Monday evening, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Orange County to help with cleanup efforts. The Orange County Board of Supervisors issued an emergency response statement at its meeting on Tuesday, which allows the county to seek reimbursement for cleanup and other efforts from the entity responsible for the leak. .
Huntington Beach was the hardest hit, with oil fouling some marshes and wetlands. Orange County supervisor Katrina Foley said she had flown over the affected area and it did not appear that the oil was encroaching as much as previously feared in the Huntington Beach area, but it could be move as far south as the Mexican border.
“We need more resources,” Foley said Tuesday. “Looks like they’ve got a boat skimming off Laguna Beach, sort of heading for Dana Point. However, there are strands of oil left there, so more resources – more skimmers – are needed. We must all be on the bridge.
Investigations also revealed that the spill did not enter the Bolsa Chica wetlands. However, a significant amount of oil has seeped into Talbert Marsh, a 25-acre ecological reserve across from Huntington State Beach that is home to dozens of bird species. County officials have put up berms to prevent additional oil from entering.
“It’s just devastating how much oil settles in there,” Foley said. “This swamp was actually something that was fixed after the last oil spill, so we’re back to zero for that.”
Fourteen boats work in the waters along the coast to recover the oil before it runs aground. As of Monday afternoon, more than 4,100 gallons of oil had been removed from the water. Authorities have deployed 8,700 feet of oil containment barriers, called booms, to protect the coast, according to the Coast Guard.
On Tuesday morning, pollution control vessels were seen off Huntington Beach, south of Laguna Beach and Dana Point. Laguna Beach officials hoped the skimmers would prevent more oil from landing.
“The whole city is a marine protected area, which means we have sensitive marine habitat and protected wildlife here, and we need resources to protect this unique ecosystem,” said Kevin Snow, chief marine safety officer for Laguna Beach.
The Coast Guard is investigating whether a large commercial vessel has dropped anchor in the wrong place, damaging an oil pipeline and causing the massive Orange County oil spill, an official close to the investigation told The Times on Monday. The source spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The anchor dragged the pipeline up to 150 feet, the official said. Ships are given anchor points to avoid pipelines. Coast Guard investigators are examining whether the ship’s captain was aware of the drag.
Earlier Monday, Martyn Willsher, president and CEO of the pipeline operator’s parent company, said a ship anchor hitting the pipeline was “one of the distinct possibilities” of the spill.
“We have examined over 8,000 feet of pipe and have isolated a specific area of significant interest,” Willsher told reporters. “There is more information to come, but I think we are getting very close to the source and cause of this incident.”
The spill, first reported on Saturday morning, came from a pipeline connecting the port of Long Beach to an offshore oil rig known as Elly. The failure sent about more than 100,000 gallons of oil to the Catalina Canal, creating a slick spanning approximately 8,320 acres.
It left crude oil along stretches of sand in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach, killing fish and birds and threatening environmentally sensitive wetlands in what authorities are calling an environmental disaster.
Oil will likely continue to encroach on Orange County beaches and environmentally sensitive habitats over the next few days, officials said.
Eight oiled birds, including a brown pelican, red scarf, coot, marsh grebe, sanderling and western grebe, were recovered from the spill.
Greg Viviani, from Laguna Beach, was walking his dog on Aliso Beach on Monday morning when he noticed splashing in the water. He thought it was a fish or a dolphin but soon realized it was a bird. Aware of the oil spill, Viviani ran to shore, where he saw the bird being thrown into the shorebreaker and being pummeled by the waves.
“This bird is going to drown,” Viviani remembered thinking. “There was oil everywhere. It really felt like he was in trouble.
After he was pushed onto the wet sand, Viviani ran and circled him to prevent the bird from being dragged back into the ocean. He draped his black T-shirt over it and gently picked it up, to keep him calm as passers-by approached.
“People say to themselves: ‘Do not approach the animals, you will hurt yourself or the animal. But I wasn’t going to let it drown, ”said the 37-year-old. “I didn’t think about it. I thought I’m human and he’s a wounded animal and I’m going to try to help him.
Viviani described the bird’s legs as being glued to its own feathers. He thought the bird was a cormorant because it was so dark and so smooth. But he later learned that it was a western grebe. He called the authorities to report the bird and waited about an hour and a half for them to respond and transport the bird to a triage center. He later learned that the bird had to recover.
“This has never happened in my life in Laguna Beach, where I had to save wildlife from an oil spill,” he said.
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