About 3,000 barrels of oil spilled off the coast of southern California in the western United States, leaving a slick more than 10 km long in the ocean. On Sunday, dead birds and fish were found on a beach in Huntington Beach. Mayor Kim Karr called the event “a potential environmental disaster.”
The City’s 200,000 authorities said oil had leaked onto a local beach where dead birds and fish were found. They added that, despite their efforts in the morning, “the leak has not yet been completely repaired.”
“The current length of spot oil is about 5.8 nautical miles (about 10.5 km),” authorities said in a report cited by CNN.
Carr explained, citing information from the Coast Guard, that the spill could have been the result of an oil spill during an ocean oil extraction process near Huntington Beach.
“The US Coast Guard is in charge of responding to the spill approximately 5.8 nautical miles between Huntington Beach Pier and Newport Beach. The leak was likely the result of pipeline damage at the Beta Offshore facility, ”writes the Times of San Diego. …
The newspaper notes that the leak caused serious environmental damage to the waters off the coast of Huntington Beach.
“Oil gathering equipment and barriers were deployed to prevent oil from entering the Bolsa Chica Reserve and the Huntington Beach wetlands (…),” emphasizes the Times of San Diego.
The plume was first seen on Saturday after 9:00 am local time. The Coast Guard assessed the spill as serious.
Due to the leak, Huntington Beach officials canceled the last day of the Pacific Airshow and urged residents to stay away from beaches in the affected areas.