By The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES, Calif., Oct 5 (Reuters) – A section of the oil pipeline that burst off the Southern California coast was displaced 105 feet (32 meters) across the ocean floor, officials said on Tuesday, fueling speculation that a ship’s anchor may have caused the environmental disaster.
The revelation came as the U.S. Coast Guard and drilling company Amplify Energy Corp (AMPY.N) came under further scrutiny about the time it took to respond to the spill, amid reports that mariners first reported seeing oil in the water on Friday night, when official notification did not come until Saturday around midday.
Roughly 3,000 barrels (126,000 gallons) of crude oil spilled into the Pacific Ocean, killing wildlife, soiling the coastline and forcing officials to close beaches in the cities of Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach in Orange County, just south of Los Angeles.
Oil, tar wash ashore in San Diego County
The oil appears to have leaked through a 13-inch (33-cm) gash in the pipe, which was “pulled like a bowstring” about 105 feet from where it should have been, Martyn Willsher, chief executive of Amplify Energy, told a news conference. Amplify owns the pipeline and connected rigs.
In all a 4,000-foot (1.2-km) section of the 17.7-mile (28.5 km) pipeline was displaced laterally, as discovered by a remotely operated vehicles, U.S. Coast Guard Captain Rebecca Ore told reporters.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said the accident underscored the risks of relying on fossil fuels in a state already suffering from drought and wildfires that experts link to human-caused climate change.
“We need to grow up and grow out of this dependency,” Newsom told a separate news conference in Huntington Beach, promoting renewable energy alternatives.
