Investigators continue to look for answers in an oil spill earlier this month that dumped more than 126,000 barrels of oil in the water off the California coast, making it one of the worst oil spills in the state’s history and leading Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency.
According to USA Today, a cargo ship that was dragging its anchor in rough seas several months ago may have damaged an oil pipeline causing oil to leak into the ocean, creating a nightmare scenario off the coast of Huntington Beach.
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. SandraKay Kneen told the publication it is unclear what caused the leak.
“We're still looking at multiple vessels and scenarios,” she said.
One of those vessels, according to the publication, is the Panama-registered MSC DANIT, which was boarded by federal investigators just hours after the ship arrived at the Port of Long Beach. It is the same ship investigators believe drug its anchor during a storm in January, possibly striking the pipe.
This scenario was considered when the pipeline was being planned in the 1970s. Regulators who reviewed the plans allegedly downplayed the risks of a spill, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
“Their presentations were fatally flawed,” Richard Kuprewicz, the president of Accufacts Inc., who specializes in gas and liquid pipeline investigations, told the newspaper.
The Times also reviewed documents that downplayed the potential impact of an anchor strike and indicated any spill would be minimal. In 1978, regulators said if the pipeline were to leak, only 50 barrels of oil would be released into the ocean.
“If there was more frank discussion of what could possibly occur it probably would have initiated discussions on what actions to take, because the risks were severely understated,” Kuprewicz told the Times.
The 50-barrell prediction was only about a tenth of the amount of oil believed to have leaked into the ocean, according to the Times.
In the wake of the spill, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a state of emergency in Orange County to drive the emergency response to the spill, according to a press release from his office. In the release, the governor said the move would help cut red tape and “mobilize all available resources to protect public health and the environment.”
