The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a possible oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach in Orange County, officials said Friday.
Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner's office confirmed by phone that “details are scarce,” but officials have confirmed that an oil sheen visible on the surface of the water about two miles offshore is not due to natural causes.
But Wagner and her colleague, Supervisor Katrina Foley, tweeted about the incident Friday morning to their constituents.
“The first thing you think is that it is from a platform.” Foley testified online at 8:05 a.m. The City of Huntington Beach has not yet announced closures to water recreation activities.
A KTLA-TV News helicopter captured images and video of a dark, reflective substance floating above the waters.
“Initial estimates are about 2 miles wide.” Wagner stated on the social media platform X. at 9:05 a.m. “Emergency personnel are on scene and working to identify the source.”
A county emergency response team was in the water assessing the situation, according to Foley's office. “We'll know more when we get there.”
Last August, officials advised the public to stay away from Huntington Beach after a 40-foot boat carrying 300 gallons of diesel sank off the coast.
Four months earlier, a $50 million settlement was awarded to people and businesses affected by the rupture of an undersea pipeline in 2021 that spilled about 25,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean and along the coast in Huntington Beach. Following an investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board called for shipping containers to be anchored further away from offshore pipelines to prevent future accidents.
