Huntington Beach Oil Spill
I have been pretty lucky all my life living right off the coast in Surf City U.S.A. — clean air and clean water. But that is not the case anymore.
With the cargo ships sitting out directly in front of Catalina Island something has definitely been off, and then the burst at the bottom of the ocean that everyone is talking about happened.
In the article titled “The latest on the oil spill: A ship may have caused the pipeline damage weeks earlier,” by Julie Cart and Rachel Becker, it discusses the major issues that the oil spill caused and the damages that have been done. The spill occurred five miles off the coast of Huntington Beach and continued for 17 miles connecting one offshore platform to the port of Long Beach at the pumping station. This ended up causing residual effects — the spill moved its way down all the way to Dana Point with the pull of the current, which led to the discovery of this catastrophic event.
A cargo ship. Yes, one of the many ships sitting along the Pacific ruining the horizon. The spill was most likely caused by a cargo ship’s anchor, which dragged the pipeline more than 100 feet, causing the spill. The company responsible for this oil spill is Beta Operating. They have been “fined by federal regulators in 2013 and 2014 for violations that led to the injury of workers. The company also was issued 125 violations found by federal inspectors.” They are not a trustworthy company, and there will be consequences to pay in the future that have yet to be determined.
In 2020 a law was made in order to charge a person close to $1,000 per gallon of oil spilled. This is if they knowingly knew about the spill. This oil spill will need a lot of money to clean it up, which will change the economy in Huntington Beach. It will not draw in as many visitors as it usually does during this time of year because of the spilled oil. People will not want to come and enjoy the beach — which ultimately creates less revenue for local businesses, restaurants, and shops downtown.
The oil spill in Huntington Beach has created massive problems in the ocean and on the land.
