“We will get to the bottom of the leak and hold the responsible parties, including (Huntington Beach oil rig and pipeline owner) Amplify Energy, accountable for their actions,” Rep. Alan Lowenthal said.

Still undetermined is whether the impact caused the October leak, or if the line was hit by something else at a later date or failed due to a preexisting problem, one official said.

Roy Kim, an environmental scientist with California’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response, said the size of tar balls being collected on coastal beaches has diminished from the early days after the spill.

City and state beaches in Huntington Beach will reopen after water quality tests revealed no detectable levels of oil associated toxins in the ocean water.

The Huntington Beach mayor said she was “cautiously optimistic” people could be back in the water in weeks.

News about the oil spill has been constant this week. Here’s what’s happening and the best estimates about whether it will reach Long Beach.

“This is money to them,” an environmental attorney said of the company that operates the pipeline. “They know how much they lost, I am certain of that.”

Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier said some of the oil has been pushed to the south by currents. Storms earlier in the week may also have helped disperse the oil, which he said could make it more challenging to skim as it spreads out.

California remains the nation’s seventh-largest oil producing state. Winding down the state’s oil production has proved politically difficult.