What Happened?
On Friday night October 1st, the Coast Guard first received reports of a possible oil spill just north of the Huntington Beach Pier. The spill was confirmed on Saturday morning when investigators discovered a leak in a petroleum pipeline that transports crude from an offshore drilling platform called Elly. Owned by Amplify Energy, Elly is one of three offshore oil rigs in Long Beach.
Image of Elly and Ellen offshore drilling platforms, owned by Amplify Energy.
Scuba diver reports and submarine footage have revealed that a 4,000-foot section of the nearly 18-mile long pipeline had been displaced by more than 100 feet and had a 13-inch gash along its length. Although it’s unclear exactly how much oil leaked from the pipeline, official estimates range from 25,000 to 141,000 gallons. The spill primarily impacted the San Pedro Channel, a small Pacific waterway situated between Santa Catalina Island and Southern California.
Map of coastal California, including the San Pedro Channel.
The Causes
Authorities believe that a large ship anchor is directly responsible for rupturing the pipeline. However, the root cause of this disaster runs deeper than a ship’s anchor. The process by which incoming ships arrive and anchor is complex and requires consistent communication between the Marine Exchange, Coast Guard, and the ship itself. Ships are typically assigned to a berth, or designated docking location, in the harbor. However, when traffic is busy, and a berth is unavailable, ships may be assigned to a nearby anchorage site or a “drift area” within 25 miles of the port.
Image of several cargo ships anchored outside of the Los Angeles Port.
As a result of the pandemic, ports have experienced the effects of labor and supply shortages, increased consumer demand, and production slowdowns. The Port of Long Beach, for example, is on pace to unload more than 9 million containers this year, shattering last year’s record of 8.1 million. Similarly, the Port of Los Angeles has made history this year, becoming the first port in the western hemisphere to process more than 10 million containers in a 12-month period. These economic changes have created a supply chain bottleneck, forcing many cargo ships and oil tankers to drop anchor dangerously close to oil-drilling infrastructure.
Who’s to blame?
Investigators believe one of the ship anchors was dragged along the seafloor and caught on the Amplify pipeline, leading to its displacement and rupture. Officials have investigated several ships, including the Rotterdam Express, a German cargo ship that was anchored close to the pipeline during the time of the oil spill. However, after inspecting the vessel and collecting evidence, the Coast Guard has released the Rotterdam and has removed them as a party of interest.
In contrast, the Coast Guard found that the Beijing, a Liberian container vessel, was involved in an anchor-dragging incident in January, and has listed the ship’s owner, Capetanissa Maritime Corp., and operator, V.Ships Greece Ltd., as parties of interest. It is believed that a stint of heavy weather in January led to the anchor dragging and pipeline damage, but that it took more than nine months for the leak to begin. The Coast Guard has also listed MSC DANIT, a Panamanian container ship, as a party of interest.
Image of the Beijing container vessel.
Further investigation of these vessels is underway, but Coast Guard Captain, Jason Neubauer, believes that multiple vessels could be involved in the incident. In addition, officials like California senator Dave Min attribute more of the blame to Amplify Energy, pointing out that the aging infrastructure and improper pipeline maintenance are primary causes of the disaster.
Many maritime officials reflect a similar outlook, stating that offshore drilling on Orange County’s coast has always been hazardous because of the heavy shipping traffic at the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports.
Environmental Impacts
Not surprisingly, this oil spill has negatively impacted southern California’s marine ecosystems. From tiny phytoplankton to large marine mammals, all organisms are affected by an oil spill. Officials estimate that more than 80 birds and fish were affected, more than half of which have died. However, the diligent efforts of wildlife care specialists have allowed certain animals such as ruddy ducks and Clark’s grebe birds to be quickly rehabilitated and released back into the wild.
Image of a rescued ruddy duck being released back into a clean environment.
Despite our best conservation efforts, the effects of oil spills are complex and long-lasting. Direct consumption of oil is toxic for fish, sea turtles, and marine mammals. When ingested oil lines the digestive and gastrointestinal tract of an animal, it can inhibit the animal’s absorption of water and nutrients. Oil also harms sea otters and seabirds by disrupting the structure and insulative capabilities of their furs and feathers. Without any protection from cold water, birds and mammals will often suffer from hypothermia. Moreover, the combination of oil and water weighs down on affected animals, forcing them to expend extra energy to fly, swim, and maintain their body temperature. Director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, Dr. Michael Ziccardi, explains how affected birds may beach themselves in an attempt to get warm, but in the process, separate themselves from their aquatic food sources.
Image of snowy plover being examined and treated
Another avian victim of the oil spill is the snowy plover. This small shorebird spends its summers nesting and breeding on Southern California’s coast. However, rapid coastal development and human beach activities have attracted predators of the plover and encroached on its natural habitat. In 1993, the plover’s population fell below 1,500 and the bird completely disappeared from Huntington State Beach. However, years of habitat restoration and conservation efforts paid off when a single plover nest was found on Huntington State Beach in 2017; plover numbers have only increased since then.
Unfortunately, the recent oil spill has negatively impacted the snowy plover. Oil has leached into their food supply of kelp, invertebrates, and bugs. As the birds feed on these contaminated organisms and try to clean their oiled feathers, they poison themselves. For this reason, 10 plovers were found dead in the wild, 2 have been euthanized, and 2 have died in the hands of conservationists. 21 of the birds are currently being rehabilitated at the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, alongside other affected birds such as grebes, gulls, coots, and pelicans. With the help of dishwashing detergent, WaterPik devices, and feeding tubes, these birds are being treated and nursed back to health.
In addition to these immediate impacts of the oil spill, environmental experts worry about the long-term ecological damage. Although some environmental scientists such as Laird Henkel at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife believe it is too early to determine what exactly these long-term effects are, marine ecologists such as Steve Murwaski believe that the oil spill may permanently disrupt the delicate wetland ecosystems and migratory bird patterns.
Joleah Lamb, microbiologist at UC Irvine, collects seawater samples at Newport Beach.
One aspect of the ecosystem which may be important for studying long-term ecological damage is the microbiome: a community of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbes which inhabit an ecosystem. Microbiologist Joleah Lamb at UC Irvine explains how the tiniest organisms take the biggest hit from an oil spill because they get a larger relative dose of toxic chemicals and because they lack regulating organs such as gills and livers. In addition to studying how microbes are affected, Lamb is interested in how they help restore ecological balance. Certain bacteria and viruses can break down the toxic hydrocarbons found in fossil fuels and use it as a source of energy. Microbial communities can also play the role of an indicator species, as their chemical composition and DNA signatures convey information about the ecological balance of an aquatic system. Thus, in bouncing back from any disaster, we must have awareness and respect for all facets of nature, even the ones we cannot see.
Illustration of microorganisms and DNA sequences from seaweed scrapings.
Community Efforts
Direct response efforts to the oil spill have primarily entailed physical cleanup of the oil. Over the past 2 months, cleanup crews have worked diligently and have removed more than 500,000 pounds of oily debris, including oil-soaked tar balls, sand, seaweed, and driftwood. As detailed in the previous section, wildlife conservationists are working hard to rescue and rehabilitate affected animals. Similarly, biologists and environmental scientists are also working hard to study the ecological impacts of the spill.
Image of cleanup crews collecting oiled debris.
Given that this disaster occured so close to the St. Margaret’s community, our school decided to organize an “Oil Spill Response Week”, in which several environmental clubs (Ecology, Marine Science, Environmental, Surfriders, and STEAM) raised funds to support the oil spill cleanup efforts. During this week, each club utilized the community time and lunch break to hold events such as bake sales, popsicle sales, sticker sales, and letter writing campaigns. All funds generated from these events were donated to The Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy and The Pacific Marine Mammal Center to directly contribute to cleanup efforts.
Image of Oil Response Week at St. Margaret's Episcopal School
Conclusion
Although initial reports of the Huntington Beach oil spill sparked fears of a long-lasting environmental disaster, quick action allowed most of the oil to be contained, preventing serious destruction of aquatic ecosystems. Despite this, Amplify Energy and first responders could have been faster to address the issue on Friday night and could have expressed more urgency to protect our oceans. This disaster has reaffirmed many environmentalists’ opinions against the extractive industries and has renewed calls to end offshore drilling practices to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.
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