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The normally bustling beaches of Huntington Beach, which greet tourists with a sign reading “Surf City USA”, were empty on Monday.
And a little further south, teams dressed in white hazardous materials protective suits worked to protect the fragile wetland ecosystem near the mouth of the Santa Ana River, crucial habitat for migrating birds wrapped in ribbons. shimmering oil.
The breach, widely reported on Saturday, occurred about five miles off Huntington Beach in Orange County, spilling the equivalent of about 3,000 barrels – or 126,000 gallons – of post-production crude, have local officials said.
And while the case is investigated, questions also arise about the timeline of notifications.
Authorities in California were informed on Friday evening of reports of an oil burst at the site of the pipeline spill, more than 12 hours before Amplify Energy Corp., the operator of the line, reported it. to state and federal authorities, according to documents reviewed by CNN. .
But in an interview with CNN on Monday, Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said a shard was detected by company staff on Saturday morning, not Friday night. Willsher said there was equipment to detect the leak without visibly seeing the oil spills, but there had been no notice of a potential leak in the pipeline until Saturday.
The spill, which runs from Huntington Beach to Laguna Beach, is likely to move further south depending on wind and currents, said Captain Rebecca Ore, commander of the US Coast Guard Los Angeles-Long Beach area. .
Spill response efforts have doubled since Sunday afternoon, Ore said on Monday.
“It’s devastated our California coastline in Orange County, and it’s having a huge impact on our ecological reserves as well as our economy,” Foley told CNN. “We need answers and the public deserves answers.”
It is not known how many animals died in the spill, Michael Ziccardi, director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) said at a press conference Monday.
“I had serious concerns about this impact,” he said. However, the initial assessment shows fewer birds affected than previously feared.
So far, the OWCN has captured four birds, including a pelican that had to be euthanized, he said.
“As California continues to lead the nation in phasing out fossil fuels and tackling the climate crisis, this incident serves as a reminder of the enormous cost of fossil fuels to our communities,” Newsom said Monday. “Destructive offshore drilling practices sacrifice our public health, the economy and our environment.”
Investigation of the cause
The cause of the leak is not yet known. Willsher said Monday the company had isolated a specific location along the pipeline that could be responsible.
“We are still evaluating the source and the solution,” Eric Laughlin, spokesperson for the California Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, said at a press conference on Sunday. “There doesn’t appear to be any other fuel leaks, but we are still working to identify it.”
Authorities are examining whether a ship’s anchor could have caused the oil spill, Coast Guard Captain Ore said.
“These ships are anchored and many are waiting to enter the San Pedro Bay port complex – the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach – and during transit they may pass through a pipeline,” he said. Ore said on Monday. .
The Federal Office of Safety and Environmental Enforcement was assisting the Coast Guard’s response to the oil spill, the agency told CNN. His role was to help “identify the location and source of any spill and provide technical assistance to the Unified Command to stop the spill,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
CNN’s Joe Sutton, Susannah Cullinane, Eric Levenson, Amir Vera, Alta Spells, Stella Chan, Claudia Dominguez, Chris Isidore, Cheri Mossburg and Sonnet Swire contributed to this report.
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