Story at a glance
- The California oil spill could have started with a misaligned anchor hitting an Amplify pipeline.
- Southern California beaches are closed as Gov. Newsom ordered a state of emergency.
In the wake of the oil spill plaguing Southern California’s coastlines, the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the source, specifically whether or not an anchor from a ship damaged the pipeline.
The Los Angeles Times reports that an anchor from a large commercial ship may have dropped in the wrong location and damaged one of natural gas drilling company Amplify’s oil pipelines in the process.
An unnamed official told reporters that the anchor could have dragged the pipeline nearly 150 feet from its initial location, and thereafter caused it to rupture. Coast Guard officials will investigate this possibility, which, if true, could shift liability for the spill from Amplify to the commercial ship.
The rupture of the pipeline occurred nearly four miles off the coast of Huntington Beach, Calif. More 126,000 gallons of oil have been spilled into the Pacific Ocean since the spill occurred on Saturday, Oct. 2. Oil slick has washed up ashore in Long Beach and Newport Beach, killing native flora and fauna and shuttering beaches for potentially weeks.
Amplify had a history of regulatory issues, and had recorded scores of violations regarding its facility operations prior to the spill.
Due to the public health and environmental impacts associated with the spill, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued a State of Emergency to liberate state resources to assist in mitigating the spill.
“The state is moving to cut red tape and mobilize all available resources to protect public health and the environment,” said Newsom on Monday. “As California continues to lead the nation in phasing out fossil fuels and combating the climate crisis, this incident serves as a reminder of the enormous cost fossil fuels have on our communities and the environment.”
Politicians at the state and federal level have decried offshore drilling operations in the wake of the spill.
changing america copyright.
