United States Tries to Contain Disaster Involving Massive Spill of 600,000 Liters of Oil Caused by Ship Anchored in California Ports

After The Major Environmental Disaster, Governor Gavin Newsom Reiterated His Calls For The United States To Move Beyond Oil

A ship’s anchor may have snagged, dragged, and torn an underwater pipeline, which spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the ocean off the coast of Southern California, according to federal investigators, who also found that the pipeline’s owner did not promptly shut down operations after a security system alerted to a possible leak.

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Watch The Updated Video on The Massive Environmental Disaster in The U.S.

Questions remained about the timeline of the spill over the weekend, which soiled beaches and a protected wetland, potentially closing them for weeks, along with commercial and recreational fishing, a significant impact on the local economy.

Some reports of a possible spill, a smell of oil, and an oily sheen in the waters off Huntington Beach emerged last Friday (10/01), but were not corroborated and the pipeline operator, Amplify Energy Corp., did not report a leak until the following morning, officials said.

An alarm went off in a company control room at 2:30 a.m. On Saturday, the pressure had dropped in the pipeline, indicating a possible leak, but Amplify waited until 6:01 a.m. to shut down the pipeline, according to preliminary results from an investigation into the spill.

Company Took An Additional Three Hours To Notify The National Response Center Of The U.S. Coast Guard For Oil Spills

The Houston-based company took an additional three hours to notify the National Response Center of the U.S. Coast Guard for oil spills, investigators said, further delaying the response to an incident for which Amplify workers had spent years preparing.

However, the CEO of Amplify, Martyn Willsher, insisted that the company was unaware of the leak until it saw a sheen on the water at 8:09 a.m.

The company’s spill response plan requires immediate notification of a leak. Criminal charges have been made in the past when a company took too long to notify federal and state officials of a spill.

On Tuesday, federal transportation investigators said the pipe was opened at a depth of about 30 meters and a section nearly 1.5 kilometers long was pulled along the seabed, possibly by an anchor that snagged it and caused a partial rupture, federal transportation investigators said.

Ship Anchor Responsible For Major Disaster In The United States

“The pipeline was essentially pulled like a bowstring”, Willsher said. “At its widest point, it is 32 meters away from where it was.”

Massive cargo ships routinely traverse above the pipeline as they head to the sprawling Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex. They receive coordinates where they are to anchor to unload.

Anchored cargo ships constantly move due to changing winds and tides, and a poorly defined anchor weighing 10 tons (9 tons) or more can drag “whatever is the dirty anchor”, said Steven Browne, a maritime transportation professor at the California State Maritime Academy.

There was no indication if investigators suspect that a particular vessel was involved.

“We will ensure that we have answers on how this happened and ensure we hold the responsible party accountable”, said Congresswoman Katie Porter, a Democrat who chairs the oversight and investigations subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee. She represents a district a few miles inland from the spill area.

About 600,000 Liters Of Oil Were Spilled Into The Ocean

The spill sent up to 572,807 liters of heavy crude oil into the ocean, but animal rescuers on land were pleasantly surprised to find few birds covered in oil.

During a two-hour boat ride off the Huntington Beach coast, an AP video journalist did not see visible oil. Pelicans and other seabirds floated in calm waters, and four dolphins swam near the boat.

Meanwhile, Coast Guard officials defended their decision to wait until Saturday morning to investigate a possible spill first reported on Friday night – about 10 hours earlier – near a group of boats anchored off Huntington Beach.

At 2:06 a.m. on Saturday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said satellite images showed a strong likelihood of an oil slick. The report was made to the National Response Center, a hazardous spill line for the Coast Guard.

Residents near Newport Beach also complained on Friday night about a strong smell of oil, and the police issued a public advisory about it.

Governor Gavin Newsom Reiterated His Calls For The United States To Move Beyond Oil

The Coast Guard was alerted to a sheen on the water by a “good Samaritan”, but did not have enough evidence and was hampered by darkness and a lack of technology to search for the spill, Coast Guard Admiral Brian Penoyer told the Associated Press.

Speaking at a press conference last Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom reiterated his calls for the United States to move beyond oil. Newsom signed an executive order last year banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.

“It is time, once and for all, to ensure that this has to be part of our future. This is part of our past”, he said from Bolsa Chica State Beach, where he joined local, state, and federal officials to discuss the spill.