A California-based oil and gas company has been identified as the source of an oil sheen spotted last week off Bolsa Chica State Beach in Orange County, state officials said.
DCOR LLC, a small company based in Oxnard, was identified as the source, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response tweeted Saturday.
“A responsible party has been identified as DCOR LLC. The sheen was observed in the vicinity of their pipeline, (Pipeline 0919), which runs from Platform Eva,” the department said. All platform and pipeline operations in the vicinity have ceased, and officials are watching for “any indications of additional discharge of oil.”
The size of the sheen has yet to be determined. Divers plan to visit the affected area Tuesday to inspect the pipeline once the weather improves, officials said. Samples were collected Wednesday as part of the investigation.
“No oiled wildlife observed,” according to state Fish and Wildlife. Oiled Wildife Care Network “remains on standby.”
DCOR LLC officials could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday morning.
Neighboring Long Beach so far has not been affected by the oil sheen, but officials said they remain on watch as it travels north toward the San Gabriel River and Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier.
“We’re still OK,” said Gonzalo Medina, marine safety chief of the Long Beach Fire Department. “Rain has the adverse affect of breaking up most oil sheen in the sense that it breaks them up into other clumps and makes it harder to track. But as soon as the rain breaks, we were back on it and looking for it.”
Long Beach is “actively looking at contingency plans for various scenarios and is prepared to clear beaches immediately, start our own local mitigation efforts and provide further updates as needed,” city officials said in a statement.
The sheen was reported last Wednesday about one mile offshore from Bolsa Chica State Beach. Authorities placed protective…