Officials said Sunday that no oiled wildlife has been located in San Diego County from last weekend’s massive oil spill off the coast of Orange County.
Meanwhile, San Diegans can expect to see shoreline cleanup assessment teams and contracted crews in protective gear monitoring, inspecting and cleaning San Diego County beaches.
Teams checked the following locations Sunday for any visible signs of oil:
- Oceanside Pier
- Carlsbad City Beach
- Batiquitos Lagoon
- Encinitas Beach
- Cardiff Beach
- San Elijo Beach
- Solana State Beach
- South Ponto Beach
On Sunday, they also conducted water and soil sampling along San Onofre Beach.
In addition, the San Diego County Water Authority reported Sunday that the Carlsbad Desalination Plant is fully operational, with no signs of oil in the water. Officials placed trotective booms at several locations in the Aqua Hedionda Lagoon, including in front of the intake for the plant.
The Unified Command handling the response to the spill, headed by the U.S. Coast Guard, includes officials from Orange County, San Diego County, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Amplify Energy Corp. Amplify owns the damaged pipeline that was the source of the oil leak.
The public may encounter tar balls, which contain hazardous chemicals, when visiting the beach. They are warned to not handle any tar or oil. They are encouraged to email tarballreports@wildlife.ca.gov.
More than 1,600 people are part of the response operation. To date, 5,544 total gallons of crude oil have been recovered.
The leak was reported on the morning of Oct. 2 a few miles off the Huntington Beach coast, although some boaters reported smelling something in the water Friday.
Authorities initially estimated as much as 144,000 gallons of oil may have leaked. Officials said Thursday the actual amount is likely much lower. However, they offered no firm number.
– City News Service