LOS ANGELES — A 13-square-mile oil slick off the coast of Newport Beach is expected to hit beaches Saturday night, prompting coastal closures and emergency responses.
The oil slick is believed to have originated from a pipeline leak and poured into the waters off Newport Beach on Saturday, spreading for miles. The spill is expected to come ashore in the next few hours, city officials tweeted.
Workers moved to shut the pipeline down and use pressurized equipment to retrieve as much oil as possible soon after the incident was reported at 12:18 p.m., said Kate Conrad of Beta Offshore, a Southern California oil producer involved in the operation.
“We were alerted quickly,” she said.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife also sent crews to the scene after multiple reports of a sheen on the water about five miles off the Newport Beach coast. Cleanup crews are being mobilized, the department tweeted.
People are being asked not to approach potentially affected wildlife as “they can cause more harm than good to the animals” but instead call the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at (877) 823-6926, said Eric Laughlin, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. A crew from the network has been mobilized for any needed rescue and rehabilitation work.
“Members of the public should avoid the oiled shoreline, as the area is unsafe and should only be cleaned by trained contractors,” Laughlin said.
Huntington Beach was closed from the Santa Ana River jetty to the pier, the city said in a 7:21 p.m. tweet.
Newport Beach resident Kerry Keating said she and other neighbors began smelling a “horrible and strong” odor like tar Friday night and several people on the Nextdoor neighborhood network also reported hearing a loud boom.
“We are all quite concerned for the marine life,” Keating wrote in an email.
The incident comes more than 30 years after a huge oil spill hit the Orange County coast.
On the afternoon of Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran over its anchor in relatively shallow water off Huntington Beach, spilling nearly 417,000 gallons of crude and fouling popular beaches along the Orange County coast. The oil killed fish and about 3,400 birds. The cleanup was completed on April 3.
