November 30, 2021

• It has been determined by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) that there is no further risk to public health related to seafood consumption and the is being lifted today at noon (12pm). 

• Cleanup efforts are still ongoing and mainly focused on collecting tar balls along the shoreline in Orange and San Diego Counties. As of November 29th, the Unified Command team completed assessments of 69 segments.  A graphic explaining Phases of Oil Spill Response and a Cleanup Endpoints Fact Sheet are available on the response website.

• Waste Management will be conducted by the responsible party who will recycle or dispose of all spill-related wastes generated as a result of this incident. 

• Recently there have been a number of unsponsored cleanup events related to tar ball cleanup. To remind the public, oil contains a host of hazardous chemicals and should not be touched or picked up by the public for health and safety reasons. We understand your concern and desire to help but prefer that you report tar balls to the tar ball report email above instead of hosting your own cleanup. Groups are encouraged to do beach cleanups but please avoid picking up oil and tar. 

 

 

November 23, 2021 - Oil Sheen Update:

• No sheen or oil droplets observed since Saturday, November 20th.

• A new wrap with an epoxy-type sealant was installed on Saturday. Monitoring is ongoing to ensure effectiveness. A work barge with oil spill response resources will remain on-scene for the coming days as an additional contingency. While no shoreline impacts are expected from the sheen, out of an abundance of caution, USCG and OSPR pollution responders will survey shorelines that had received signoff last week to ensure they continue to meet cleanup endpoints.

• Pipeline repair plan has been submitted to Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for approval, determination should be within the coming week.

• Seafood sampling update: OEHAA expects to receive the final results from the lab the week after Thanksgiving and will prioritize the risk assessment. If the assessment indicates there is no risk to public health, CDFW is prepared to lift the closure as soon as possible. Based on this updated timeline, it is possible a recommendation may not be made until the first week of December.

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November 22, 2021

Oil Sheen Observed: On November 20, crews scheduled for planned work on the pipeline observed and reported a sheen of 30’ by 70’ as they approached the area of the line. Divers conducting the planned assessments on the line then discovered small droplets on the syntho-glass wrap. Unified Command deployed pollution responders and oil spill response organization assets to investigate the sheen and whether it was related to the pipeline. The pipeline has remained shut down since the initial incident on October 2. Investigation is ongoing to determine where the reported sheen is coming from. At 1600, the Unified Command directed an overflight of the area and no oil sightings were found on this overflight. Divers conducted assessment of the pipeline on Sunday morning. Two overflights were conducted including one midday on 11-21 with all resulting in no oil sighted. An on-water response vessel remained on-station over-night and was released midday after the overflight. 

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There have been no animals found since the last update and no live animals are currently in the care of rehabilitators, so wildlife operations have demobilized.

 

 

November 15, 2021

Incident Update: In accordance with the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) corrective action order, Amplify Energy through their subsidiary, Beta Offshore, has secured
the pipeline from leaking. Amplify is actively working with metallurgists and engineers to prepare a repair plan for
submittal to PHMSA for review and approval. These works are still in progress. Inspections of the pipeline have been
performed as a necessary first step in obtaining PHMSA approval for a temporary repair in order to re-pressurize the
pipeline for de-oiling operations. The planned next steps include proposing repair plans to PHMSA, securing approval
for same, and then mobilizing to complete that phase of the work. Response efforts continue from Long Beach to La
Jolla to include Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Teams and work crews, monitoring, inspecting, and spot cleaning the
beaches. All responders are donning appropriate personal protective equipment. A separate investigation effort has
been established for the cause of the incident. 

 

Species Updates: We are keeping an updated record of species affected so that the public remembers that this incident's residual damage continues to have impacts and will continue to do so for a long time. 

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Oiled Wildlife Impacts: 1)Captured = 36, 2) Cleaned = 28 3) Released = 24 4) DOA = 105* 5) Died in Facility: 12*

*Species include variety of birds, dolphin and fence lizard. Wildlife field operations have been demobilized. Ongoing care of remaining birds continues at San Pedro (International Bird Rescue) facility. One recaptured Western Snowy Plover remains in care. We encourage beach-goers to continue to report injured and oiled wildlife.

Report oiled wildlife to 1-877-UCD-OWCN (1-877-823-6926).

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November 8, 2021

Efforts are still being made in our cleanup of the OC Oil Spill. We have seen a reduction in the number of species directly affected by the spill and the Wildlife Field Operations have been demobilized. Ongoing care of the remaining oiled birds continues at San Pedro facility. 

We ask the public to continue to notify agencies of oiled species and tarballs on beaches and estuaries by contacting the numbers and emails s above. When you report please include as much location detail as possible and pictures if you are able. All of this information is helpful in getting appropriate teams out to the site and species as quickly as possible. 

OC Habitats will continue to update this page once a week through November. Many local organizations are looking for volunteers to help with restorations around Orange County including OC Habitats. If you are looking to volunteer, click here. 

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November 1, 2021

SCAT (Shoreline Cleanup Asses.Teams) continue to work on OC and San Diego sites. 

A separate investigation effort has been established for the cause of the incident.

Minimum oil spill release volume = 24,696 gallons

Offshore Recovered: 5,544 gallons, 13.6 bbls

Onshore Recovered (Sandy/Debris): 532,522 lbs

Oiled Wildlife Impacts: 1)Captured = 36, 2) Cleaned = 26 3) Released = 22 4) DOA = 105* 5) Died in Facility: 11*

*Species include variety of birds, dolphin and fence lizard 

Wildlife Field operations continues through at least Monday, November 1, 2021. If no oiled animals are collected, field operations will cease. 

Phases of Oil Spill Response

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