The flow of hydrocarbons extended this Sunday for nearly 34 square kilometers. The authorities fear significant environmental damage.
US authorities attempted Sunday to contain an oil flow near the coast of California, covering nearly 34 square kilometers and whose environmental damage was already being felt.
The oil spill will have “irreversible consequences on the environment”, denounced a local official, Katrina Foley, many dead fish and birds having been found on the coast.
480,000 liter flow
The worst-affected community, Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles, had to cancel the last day of an air show, the Pacific Airshow, in order to ensure “full and unimpeded access to the marine environment.”
The origin of this flow, estimated by the municipality at nearly 480,000 liters, has not yet been determined with certainty but it would be a leak from an oil pipeline about 8 km from the coast, according to Katrina Foley. . Initial analyzes of the hydrocarbon showed that it was “post-production crude oil”, according to the official.
Bathing ban
Warning of the “toxicity” of this substance, Huntington Beach asked residents to stay away from affected areas, avoid the beach and not to swim. Major efforts to contain this oil spill were underway on Sunday, the city services were hard at work, according to a statement.
“Skimming systems and floating booms have been deployed to prevent oil from reaching the Bolsa Chica ecological reserve and the Huntington Beach wetlands,” the text explains.
However, these wetlands are already suffering “significant ecological consequences”, he regrets.
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