Divers have discovered the oil leak off the California coast: a crack in a pipeline. But that’s not all. How did the massive damage to the oil pipeline come about?
Los Angeles – The source of the oil spill in California seems to have been found: Divers have discovered a 30 centimeter long crack in a pipeline on the ocean floor off the southern coast of the US state.
In addition, a 1.2-kilometer section of the 28-kilometer-long concrete-jacketed pipeline was bent, the US Coast Guard announced on Tuesday (local time). The spilled oil threatens California’s wildlife and pollutes popular beaches. Environmentalists have already reported oil-smeared dead birds and fish along the coast.
The question of how the damage to the pipeline came about is a mystery. She could have been hit by the anchor of a ship, wrote a department of the US Department of Transportation based on a preliminary report. According to US media, there was initially no confirmation that a ship was over the pipeline at the time in question. In order to protect pipelines, telephone and power lines as well as internet cables on the seabed, there are guidelines as to where ships are allowed to drop their anchors.
The head of the operating company, Martyn Willsher, spoke on Tuesday of an unusual event. The pipeline has a bend “like a semicircle”. At the furthest point, it is around 32 meters away from its place of origin. The cause is being investigated. According to the US media, the defective pipeline is a good 40 years old and is about 30 meters under water. It is connected to a conveyor platform. As a precautionary measure, the company said it had temporarily stopped operations.
The oil leaked from the leaky pipeline off the coast of Huntington Beach south of Los Angeles over the weekend. The amount of spilled oil is now estimated at around 550,000 liters. So far, according to the city, around 21,800 liters of it have been salvaged from the water and barriers around 3.5 kilometers in length have been erected.
The clean-up continued. Around ten kilometers of coast have already been cleared. Two police helicopters also took off every day to monitor the situation. “We are still seeing large amounts of oil off the coast of Huntington Beach and most of Orange County,” the city said in a statement. Several planes, boats and around 320 helpers are in action against the oil spill. In the coming days, the number of helpers could even increase to 1,500.
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the affected Orange County district in order to provide more staff and resources. Along the coast south of Los Angeles, numerous beaches have been closed due to the environmental disaster, including the popular seaside resorts of Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach. dpa
