Oil sheen contained in O.C. channel, state officials say
State officials have contained an oil sheen that was spotted in Talbert Channel near Huntington Beach on Friday.
Crews working to replace steep plate walls had noticed a light oil sheen, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“Due to the brownish milky characteristics of the oil, officials believe it may be from an abandoned pipeline,” state officials said.
The problem was contained and crews continued to monitor the situation, officials said on Twitter.
“No oil observed at Talbert Marsh; no oiled wildlife observed,” according to the tweet.
Last October, after an estimated 25,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from a broken pipeline connected to an offshore platform in Orange County, oil seeped into the ecologically sensitive Talbert Marsh.
Though authorities initially feared the worst as crashing waves churned up dead fish and oil-covered birds struggled to take flight, a combination of luck, favorable weather conditions and an aggressive response from officials who had learned from previous spills softened the blow.
Officials at the time pointed to a favorable ocean current, which pulled the plumes of oil south without large amounts of petroleum hitting the shores.
Beaches as far south as San Diego County saw tar balls but escaped large inundations of oil.
That was in marked contrast to the much larger 1990 American Trader tanker spill off Huntington Beach, which left beaches, jetties and wetlands covered in oil, fouling 15 miles of beach in Orange County.