- The pipeline breach released more than 140,000 gallons of oil.
- An anchor is “one of the distinct possibilities” behind the leak.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – Authorities could determine as soon as Tuesday the cause of the pipeline breach that spilled more than 140,000 gallons of oil off the Southern California coast, fouling waters and beaches for miles.
Investigators are looking into whether a ship’s anchor may have struck a pipeline on the ocean floor. An anchor is “one of the distinct possibilities” behind the leak, Amplify Energy CEO Martyn Willsher told a news conference. Willsher said he expected that authorities would have a better idea of what caused the damage Tuesday.
Backlogs have plagued the ports in recent months, and dozens of ships have regularly been anchored while waiting their turn to unload.
“We’re looking into if it could have been an anchor from a ship, but that’s in the assessment phase right now,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jeannie Shaye said.
Dwayne Brady and his small dog, Killer, watched crews along beach battle to stop the oil from spreading.
"You’d think in this day and age a spill that’s this large would have immediately been detected and stopped,” he said, shaking his head. “This shouldn’t have been this bad. No way.”
The pipeline was supposed to be monitored by an automated leak detection system and control room staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Along with the cause of the leak, the criminal and civil investigations will try to determine why it took so long for Amplify to learn of and report the unfolding disaster.
The first emergency call came in Friday at 6:13 p.m., and it wasn't from Amplify. A ship had noticed a sheen in the water, according to a federal report on the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services spill report website. Officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration then notified the federal response center twice that night of a possible oil spill less than five miles off Huntington Beach, according to updates on the California emergency services website.
How it happened: How pipeline breached off California coast, closing beaches and killing wildlife
So there apparently was oil in the water Friday. Yet Amplify Energy said in a statement that it's subsidiary Beta Offshore first observed and notified the Coast Guard of an oil sheen Saturday morning.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declares state of emergency: Criminal, civil investigations underway
The leak detection system, part of Amplify's spill reaction plan, was designed to trigger an alarm whenever a change in the flow of oil is detected, the Associated Press reported. But how fast it can pick up on those changes can vary according to the size of the leak. For a large leak – 10% or more of the amount of oil flowing through the pipeline – the detection time was estimated at 5 minutes. Smaller leaks were expected to take up to 50 minutes to detect, according to the response plan.
Amplify's spill plan warned that a break in the pipeline could cause “substantial harm to the environment” and that in a worst-case scenario 131,000 gallons of oil could be released from the pipeline. This leak surpassed that amount.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hopes to phase out drilling by 2045, declared a state of emergency.
“California continues to lead the nation in phasing out fossil fuels and combating the climate crisis," Newsom said. "This incident serves as a reminder of the enormous cost fossil fuels have on our communities and the environment.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
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