Major California oil spill an ‘environmental catastrophe’
- Beaches in Orange County closed, wetlands contaminated
- Huge oil spill caused by a broken pipeline off the coast
Authorities in California’s beachfront Orange County cities were scrambling to mitigate the fallout from a major oil spill off the coast described as an “environmental catastrophe”.
As of Sunday, the oil plume from the 480,000-litre spill of post-production crude was an estimated 10km (6.7 miles) long and stretched along the popular shorelines of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, Huntington Beach city authorities said.
“The spill has significantly affected Huntington Beach, with substantial ecological impacts occurring at the beach and at the Huntington Beach Wetlands,” a statement said.
The spill, which started around 9am on Saturday, was caused by a breach of an oil rig pipeline.
The oil rig was operated by Beta Offshore, a California subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy Corporation.
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Major oil spill forces California beaches to close along US state’s southern coast
In the predawn hours of Sunday, oil and dead animals had begun washing up on Huntington Beach, a city of around 200,000 people located about 65km south of Los Angeles, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley tweeted.