City News

City of Huntington Beach Provides Update on the Oil Spill

The City of Huntington Beach continued working today with federal, state, and regional response entities to assess and mitigate the oil spill that first occurred off our coast yesterday. Clean-up efforts are currently underway and the City coordinated closely with the US Coast Guard to track the approximate six nautical mile spill that has left toxic oil along our beaches and portions of our wetlands.

In partnership with the Orange County Health Care Agency, the City made the decision to close the ocean and shoreline in Huntington Beach between the Santa Ana River Jetty and Seapoint Street. At this time, it is unclear as to how long the ocean and shoreline closure will be in effect, or how long the oil spill clean-up efforts will take. While the overall clean-up efforts are being led by the Coast Guard, here in Huntington Beach, our local response efforts have been focused on two main priorities: protecting the health and safety of our residents and visitors; and preventing an ecological disaster by mitigating the oil spill impacts on our precious coastline and wetlands.

To facilitate protecting our most sensitive ecological locations, the City has laid a total of 2,050 feet of protective booms at seven separate locations. Our local teams at the City and at Orange County are working in concert to support the clean-up and recovery efforts. Unfortunately, we are starting to see oil covered fish and birds washing up along our coastline.

We have confirmed that the company responsible for the oil spill is Beta Offshore, a California subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy Corporation. The firm is also working on the clean-up effort, and in the coming days and weeks, we will be working to ensure that Amplify Energy Corporation does everything possible to rectify this environmental catastrophe.

For individuals with questions or concerns related to the oil spill, please see recommended telephone numbers for use below:

• Health related questions – Orange County Health Care Agency: (714) 834-2000
• General oil spill inquiries – Huntington Beach Oil Spill Hotline: (714) 374-1702
• Report wildlife concerns – Oiled Wildlife Care Network (877) 823-6926

For those looking for opportunities to assist with cleanup and recovery efforts, please visit the  Surfrider Foundation website and HB Wetlands & Wildlife website.

We will continue to update the community on our oil spill monitoring and clean-up efforts and provide additional details as they become available in the future.