Crude oil has stopped leaking from a pipeline off the coast of Southern California. That says the owner of the company that manages the pipe at a press conference.
The source for the great oil spill off the coast of the US state is in that pipe. It is connected to an oil platform 14 kilometers from the coast. Divers tried to find the hole in the pipe. More than half a million liters of crude oil ended up in the sea, equivalent to about three thousand barrels.
“I don’t expect more. That is the capacity of the entire pipeline,” says the owner. He says the pipeline had been drained and dozens of the company’s nearby oil rigs have been shut down.
It is one of the largest oil spills in the area ever. The coast in front of the Huntington Beach resort has been particularly affected. The oil floats over an area of more than 33 square kilometers, Reuters news agency reported.
Beaches may be closed for months
Mayor Kim Carr assumes the beaches will remain closed for weeks or even months. She called the leak “one of the most devastating situations our community has faced in decades”. She spoke of “potential ecological disaster”. “Our wetlands are being affected and parts of our coastline are now covered in oil.”
Carr called on those responsible to “do everything in the coming days to help solve the environmental disaster”. Dead fish and birds have washed up in several places on the beach.
The oil slick is clearly visible in these images:
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