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A week later, the region and its iconic beaches appear to have been spared a potentially calamitous fate, although the long-term toll on plant and animal life remains unknown.
The Coast Guard estimates that a minimum of about 25,000 gallons (95,000 liters) of oil has spilled from a ruptured pipeline off the coast of Orange County and no more than 132,000 gallons (500,000 liters ).
“From what we are seeing, this is a lighter impact than expected from a worst case landfill,” said California Fish and Wildlife Lt. Christian Corbo. “We hope to see less impact on the shoreline, less impact on wildlife, based on this lowered threshold.”
The news was welcome after a grueling week of beach closures in seaside communities where life revolves around water. Authorities were initially concerned that Huntington Beach – dubbed Surf City USA – would be off limits to surfers and swimmers for months.
But Mayor Kim Carr said Thursday she was “cautiously optimistic” that they could be back in the water in weeks. Many beaches remain open for volleyball, sunbathing, and other activities, although people should stay away from the water.
An oily sheen was reported on the water on the evening of October 1. But it wasn’t until the next morning that authorities confirmed the spill. Coast Guard seeks to know if the anchor of a ship could have snagged, bent, and severed a pipeline owned by Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp., which transports crude from its three offshore platforms to a shore facility. Outside of the oil rigs, there was no visible shine by midweek, and the putrid smell that coated Huntington Beach last weekend had worn off.
Dolphins jumped in the waves and birds skimmed the surface of the water.
But conservationists have said the situation remains serious and they fear long-term effects on wetlands and ocean life. The components of crude oil can linger below the ocean’s surface and affect tiny organisms that are ingested by fish, which are then eaten by birds, marine mammals and humans.
In a spill at sea, birds are often among the first affected, as the crude can stick to their feathers, leaving them chilled by the cold water temperatures.
Ten oiled birds were found dead within five days, and 25 were recovered and taken to a wildlife center for treatment. Those recovered include seven snow plovers, which are an endangered species, according to the Oiled Wildlife Care Network.
John Villa, executive director of the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy, said the community was hit by more crude in a 1990 spill and more than 1,000 animals were affected. In this spill, oil entered three swamps near the beach, but the damage was minimized by barriers erected quickly, he said.
“It’s not as bad as we feared,” he said, adding that the last challenge is to pump oxygen into the swamps because no new water is coming in. “We expected a lot more problems in our swamps.”
Mike Lynes, public policy director for Audubon California, said migratory birds are not usually seen in large numbers in the region until November, which may have helped limit the damage. But many birds are likely affected by the oil and haven’t been found, and other species that don’t have the same migratory patterns might not be so lucky, he said. This is why the oiled bird count is not an ideal metric for the effect of an oil spill, he said.
“Oil always persists in the coastal environment and causes all kinds of problems for a long time,” Lynes said.
As the crude drifted south, tar balls appeared on beaches about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the original site, a worrying sign that the environmental impact was on the rise. expands.
“We just don’t know what the impacts will be,” said Garry Brown, co-founder of advocacy group Orange County Coastkeeper. “Sad to say, it’s still early days.”
Some of the biggest concerns are the impact below the ocean’s surface. Crude oil can suffocate deep-sea corals and kill a critical food source for blue whales, according to Oceana, an ocean conservation organization.
Environmental experts have said fish can ingest oil and toxins can travel up the food chain. Due to the spill, fishing has been banned for miles off Orange County.
Dan Kalmick, a Huntington Beach city councilor and a board member of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust wetland conservation group, said things were better than they were in the first hours after the spill .
But there are still a lot of unknowns about where the crude is going as the winds and tides change, he said.
“There is still a lot of oil in the water,” Kalmick said.
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