Amplify Energy Corp. claims that in January 2021 two ships dragged their anchors across the pipeline that ferried crude from an oil platform that’s about 12 miles off the Long Beach coast.
Operations for Oxnard-based DCOR, LLC’s pipeline were halted this week after it was discovered that the source of the oil discharge was within its vicinity
Overflights and on-water assessments have concluded that there is currently no discharge of oil off the Orange County coast.
Though booms have been deployed at Talbert Marsh, Bolsa Chica and the Santa Ana River, there are no reports of oil or any shoreline impact at these locations at this time, according to the Coast Guard.
Federal prosecutors said Amplify Energy Corp. and its two subsidiaries that operate oil rigs and a pipeline off Long Beach were charged with a misdemeanor for illegally discharging oil.
Experts say that a properly functioning leak detection system might have been able to catch that things were amiss before an oil sheen spotted on the surface led to the leak’s discovery.
The fishing ban that had been in place since the Huntington Beach oil spill will lift today at midday.
Such sheens are often seen when diesel gas is spilled, but the cause of Saturday’s sighting has not been determined yet, the Coast Guard said.
Crews have removed upward of 500,000 pounds of tar balls, as well as oil-tainted sand, seaweed and driftwood. The amount of oily debris collected each day has tapered off, and more than a third of the shoreline is nearing final cleanup approval.
They say the federal government has failed to review and update plans for aging oil platforms off the coast.
