Federal investigators say a ship’s anchor may have hooked, dragged and torn a massive underwater pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the water off Southern California.
Amplify Energy Corp. CEO Martyn Willsher discusses the Huntington Beach oil spill during a news conference in Long Beach, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. Willsher said company divers were inspecting the area of the suspected leak reported Saturday. Willsher said an anchor from a cargo ship striking the pipeline is"one of the distinct possibilities" behind the leak.
Some reports of a possible spill, a petroleum smell and an oily sheen on the waters off Huntington Beach came in Friday night but weren't corroborated and the pipeline's operator, Amplify Energy Corp., didn't report a spill until the next morning, authorities said. However, Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher insisted that the company wasn't aware of the spill until it saw a sheen on the water at 8:09 a.m.
Huge cargo ships regularly cross above the pipeline as they head into the gigantic Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex. They are given coordinates where they are to anchor until unloading. During a two-hour boat tour off Huntington Beach coastline, an AP video journalist saw no visible oil. Pelicans and other sea birds floated on calm waters, and four dolphins swam by the boat.
Residents in nearby Newport Beach had also complained Friday evening about a strong stench of petroleum, and police put out a notice to the public about it.
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