Cleanup crews have concluded their efforts after restoring segments of the southern California shoreline impacted by an oil pipeline leak in October of this year to their original condition, the interagency Unified Command team said in an updated statement
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2021) Cleanup crews have concluded their efforts after restoring segments of the southern California shoreline impacted by an oil pipeline leak in October of this year to their original condition, the interagency Unified Command team said in an updated statement.
"After sustained cleanup operations for the Southern California oil spill, affected shoreline segments have been returned to their original condition. The Unified Command, led by the U. S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFW-OSPR), the County of Orange, the County of San Diego, and the Responsible Party, thoroughly assessed all segments to reach this milestone in the incident response," the statement said.
Approximately 25,000 gallons of crude oil were discharged less than five miles west of southern California's Huntington Beach by a leaky oil pipeline owned and operated by the companies Amplify Energy Corporation, Beta Operating Company and San Pedro Bay Pipeline Company.
The three companies were charged earlier in December with one misdemeanor count of negligent oil discharge. The indictment alleges that they acted negligent in at least six different ways, including failing to properly respond to eight separate leak alarms over the span of more than 13 hours and improperly restarting the pipeline that had been shut down following the leak alarms.
The oil spill response will now enter a transition period, during which Unified Command will monitor tar ball and oiling incidents, the statement said.
Once Unified Command determines that the transition period should end, response efforts will officially conclude, the statement added.
The pipeline remains shut down, and officials have approved Amplify Energy's plan to repair and flush the pipeline, according to the statement.
