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“We don’t know for sure yet,” he added. Authorities have collected samples, which are being tested.
San Diego County will declare a state of emergency if the tarballs are linked to the Orange County oil spill, Fletcher said. The dams – floating barriers used to contain an oil spill – were deployed out of caution, he said.
According to Fletcher, lifeguards in the towns of Carlsbad and Oceanside saw tarballs on their beaches on Wednesday evening, and officials also received reports of tarballs in Encinitas and Del Mar, about 70 miles south of the border. south of the originally affected beaches in Orange County.
There is no immediate threat to public health, Fletcher said, and the beaches will remain open until further notice. But officials have asked people to be on the lookout for tarballs.
The oil spill has been designated as a “major maritime accident”, the US Coast Guard said Thursday, the highest level of severity. In this case, it was designated as such “because of the potential involvement of a vessel and the resulting damage estimated at more than $ 500,000,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
A class action lawsuit was filed Thursday against Amplify Energy and affiliates on behalf of business owners affected by the oil spill, claiming the companies failed to maintain the pipeline safely.
CNN has contacted Amplify Energy, which operated the pipeline believed to be the source of the spill, for comment on the lawsuit, and is awaiting its response.
US Coast Guard embarks on German freighter
While the exact number is not known, officials said at a press conference Thursday that they estimated at least 24,000 gallons and possibly up to 131,000 gallons of crude oil had been spilled into the Pacific Ocean. U.S. Coast Guard Captain Rebecca Ore said the worst-case scenario would put the figure at a maximum of 131,628 gallons, or 3,134 barrels.
A joint investigation between the U.S. Coast Guard and other officials continues to advance, Ore said.
Authorities said earlier this week that the source appeared to be a 13-inch crack found in a 4,000-foot section of pipe owned by Amplify Energy. The pipe had been pulled about 105 feet to the side, authorities said.
A preliminary report indicated that the partial tear could have been caused by the anchor of a ship that snagged the pipeline, the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in a notice to Amplify Energy. The incident is still under investigation.
The US Coast Guard boarded a German freighter this week that was anchored in the waters off Southern California when the pipeline began dumping crude oil into the ocean.
Coastguard officials boarded the Rotterdam Express on Wednesday in northern California, according to Roberto Bernardo, spokesman for the Port of Oakland. The ship stayed in port for about a day to unload its cargo, which is typical, Bernardo said, and is now heading to the port of Manzanillo in Mexico.
A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd, the German company that operates the ship, confirmed to CNN in an email on Thursday that the ship had been taken on board the day before by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The ship had anchored in an area of the Pacific Ocean on September 21, as reported by San Pedro Marine Traffic, spokesman Nils Haupt said in an email to CNN. The ship remained in the same position for 12 days before heading for Oakland.
“During the period in question, the vessel did not leave the anchorage and did not cross the pipeline,” Haupt said. “During the anchoring, no oil in the water was spotted. Hapag-Lloyd is cooperating fully with all authorities concerned.”
The United Command responding to the oil spill declined to comment on the Rotterdam Express on Thursday, saying in a statement: “We are not discussing ongoing investigations, but we are analyzing the electrical mapping systems of our vessel traffic service to see which vessels were anchored or in motion. on the spill area. “
Sarah Moon of CNN contributed to this report.
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