Workers in boats try to clean up floating oil near gulls in the Talbert Marshlands as a 3,000-barrel oil spill, about 126,000 gallons, from an offshore oil rig reaches the shore and sensitive wildlife habitats in Newport Beach, Calif., on Oct. 3. 

On the morning of October 3, a pipeline failure in Southern California waters caused 126,000 gallons of crude oil to spread 13 square miles into the Pacific Ocean (from Newport to Huntington Beaches).

Kim Carr, the mayor of Huntington Beach, announced this news in a conference the following day. She also adds that this incident is an “environmental catastrophe” and “one of the most devastating situations our community has dealt with in decades.” Carr closed down the beaches in Huntington Beach. 

The spill itself was caused by a 13-inch crack on the 17.3 mile San Pedro Bay pipeline connected to the offshore oil rig called “Elly.” This rig is operated by Beta Offshore, one of the largest oil producers in Southern California, who have not yet responded to the spill and also control two other rigging platforms called “Ellen” and “Eureka.”

Martyn Willsher, the CEO of Amplify Energy (the parent corporation of Beta Offshore), proclaimed on October 4 that the pipeline has been shut down and emptied of any remaining oil; however, Willsher states that the amount that spilled was the capacity of the pipeline. He includes that their divers are still looking for a reason why the oil spill occurred.

Jason Neubauer, the Chief of the Office of Investigations and Analysis for the U.S. Coast Guard, thinks he knows why. He reported on Friday, October 8, that “the initial event that deflected the pipe itself was an anchor strike … that we're pretty confident occurred several months to a year ago.”

While the U.S. Coast Guard is cleaning up the oil, environmentalist groups along with the director of Environment California, Laura Deehan, and California State Assembly member, Cottie Petrie-Norris, say that this is a wake-up call for California to stop drilling for oil along its coasts.

What do you think of this situation? Should Beta Offshore be held accountable for this incident? Should California stop drilling for oil where there are intricate ecosystems?

by Kevin Lee