(Bloomberg) – California beaches in northern Orange County were closed and wetlands contaminated by a massive oil spill caused by a broken pipeline off the coast.
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About 3,000 barrels of crude leaked from the pipeline and washed up on beaches and wetlands in Huntington Beach, a popular spot for Southern California surfers and beachgoers. The ocean and the beach shoreline were closed indefinitely, the city said in a statement Sunday.
Beta Offshore Co., which operates three offshore oil platforms in the area, is responsible for the spill and is working on repairs and cleanup. As of Saturday, the crude stretched 5.8 nautical miles from the Huntington Beach Pier to Newport Beach, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said in the statement.
The broken pipeline connected to an offshore oil rig known as Elly, which is operated by Beta, Foley noted on Twitter. Elly processes oil produced by two nearby platforms that are also operated by Beta and began production in the 1980s called Ellen and Eureka, according to the Office of Safety and Environmental Compliance.
An email to Amplify Energy Corp., Beta’s parent, received no response. The company told the Associated Press on Sunday that the pipeline had been shut down and oil was no longer leaking.
Oil production off the coast of California has declined in recent years following major spills that have drawn environmental opposition. In 2015, an oil pipeline spill on a beach near Santa Barbara led to the closure of Exxon Mobil Corp.’s last platform off the California coast.
Nota Original:Massive Oil Spill Washes Up on Southern California’s Beaches (2)
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