Officials have warned against entering the water on Sunday following a huge oil spill along the Orange County coast, which also caused the cancellation of the Pacific Airshow’s final day.
About 5.8 nautical miles between the Huntington Beach Pier and Newport Beach was affected by the 126, 000-gallon oil spill.
The spill was reported to have been caused by a leak from a Beta Offshore-operated facility.
The underwater pipeline has been assessed by divers but the source of the leak has not been identified yet.
Officials told a press conference on Sunday afternoon that there is no additional oil leaking into the water after the pipeline has been covered.
At about 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, the spill of 3, 000 barrels of oil was reported, said Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr. All government levels have responded to the incident and a joint command was created for environmental crisis management.
On Saturday, Carr defined the situation as a “potential ecological disaster” and the next day, it triggered “significant damage” as the oil intruded the Talbert Wetlands, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said.
The beach and water access from the Pier down to the Santa Ana River jetty were closed by the City of Huntington Beach.
The oil spill has caused permanent harm and it has left dead fish and birds, according to Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, and Seal Beach representative, Foley.
Persons who spot dead animals are told to inform the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at (877) 823-6826, and not to come near the wildlife
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s spokesperson told a Sunday afternoon press conference that one oiled duck has been provided with veterinary attention, ABC7 reported.
Sheen has spanned miles in the ocean waters and the oil, bringing dead wildlife, washed ashore in gluey, black bubbles. Floating barriers, which are also called booms, were already deployed by the U.S. Coast Guard-led crews to prevent further oil penetration into the wetlands as well as the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.
