A broken
pipeline, which was connected to an offshore platform known as Elly, has spilled
over 126,000 gallons of crude into the coastal water which seeped into the
Talbert Marsh. This led to the officials deploying floating barriers known as
booms in order to prevent the spread.

The major spill in the Orange County
spoiled beaches, threatened local wetlands and caused the death of several fish
and birds.

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The shoreline
of the Huntington State Beach smelled strongly of diesel and tar. A large stretch
of sand from the pier to the Newport Beach city line had to be closed due to
dead birds, fish and lumps of oil begun
to wash up on the shore.

The Huntington State
Beach houses several species of birds such as gulls, willets and reddish egret
which are a rare sight on the west coast as per Ben Smith, a biologist and
environmental consultant.

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The spill is certainly
going to have a huge impact on the habitat and has already resulted in the
death of more than 6,800 birds. Over 58,000 gallons of fuel was spilled into
the bay. The platform Elly was put in place in the federal waters off the Los
Angeles County in 1980.

A news conference held
on Saturday night consisted of local officials who expressed their concerns about
the environmental impact of the spill. Huntington Beach’s Mayor Kim Carr told
the reporters, “We’ve been working with our federal, state and
county partners to mitigate the impact that could be a potential ecological
disaster,”

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Later, a jury indicted
Plans All American Pipeline on 46 charges and the company was made to pay over $60
million and change its operations.

The
administration has not approved offshore oil drilling in federal waters since
1984 which has sparked a debate on whether the government should allow new oil
drilling off the California coast or not.

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A 5.8-mile
oil plume has been identified by the officials which runs from the Huntington
Beach Pire to Newport Beach. Several people are working to contain the damages.