Wildlife habitat destroyed, beach closed as oil spill hits California

Oct 05, 2021 News

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– Guyana remains unprotected without full coverage insurance

Kaieteur News – According to a Reuters report, a large oil spill off the southern California coast has left fishes dead, birds mired in petroleum, wetlands contaminated and beaches closed.
The oil spill which is being called an ‘environmental catastrophe,’ comes as an eye-opener for Guyana, as the country remains unprotected without full coverage insurance in the event of an oil spill.

The article stated that the spill was caused by a breach to the Elly oil rig and stretched from the Huntington Beach Pier down to Newport Beach, an area popular with surfers and sunbathers. As a result of the oil spill, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ordered a fishery closure for coastal areas affected by the spill.
This closure extends from Huntington Beach to Dana Point for the coastal areas, and it will extend up to six miles off the coastal points for the offshore area. The beachside city which is about 40 miles (65 km) south of Los Angeles is also bearing the brunt of the spill.
Reuters reported that, “An estimated 126,000 gallons, or 3,000 barrels, had spread into an oil slick covering about 13 square miles of the Pacific Ocean since it was first reported on Saturday morning, Kim Carr, the Mayor of Huntington Beach, told a news conference.”
According to the Reuters’ article, Mayor Carr said the oil rig was operated by Beta Offshore, a California subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy Corporation (AMPY.N) and calls to Beta and Amplify went unanswered. Carr called the spill an “environmental catastrophe” and a “potential ecological disaster”. She also said that officials had deployed 2,050 feet (625 meters) of protective booms, which help contain and slow the oil flows.
The Mayor added, “Our wetlands are being degraded and portions of our coastline are now covered in oil,” and challenged the responsible parties to do everything possible to rectify this ‘environmental catastrophe.’
Amplify Energy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Martyn Willsher, said at a press conference in Long Beach that the pipeline had been shut off and the remaining oil suctioned out. Willsher also noted at the press conference that the divers were still trying to determine where and why the spill occurred.
On Sunday, the United States (U.S) Coast Guard, heading a clean-up response involving federal, state and city agencies, announced an around-the-clock investigation into how the spill occurred. U.S. Representative Michelle Steel, a Republican representing part of the affected area, sent a letter to Democratic President Joe Biden requesting a major disaster declaration for Orange County, which would free up federal funds to help with the clean-up efforts –according to the Reuters reports.
The U.S. Coast Guard, working with local and state agencies, flew airplanes and deployed boats to assess the spill and hired contractors to clean it up. The news agency reported that, according to the Coast Guard, about 3,150 gallons of oil have been recovered from the water. Officials are also investigating the cause of the spill and the type of oil involved.
Moreover, Cottie Petrie-Norris, a Democratic state assembly member representing some areas affected by the spill, said she had “huge concerns” about the extent of the damage to the environment, communities and local economy.
She told CNN the spill was a “call to action that we need to stop drilling off our precious California coast.”
The article stated that oil production off California’s coast has declined sharply since its peak in the 1990s, relatively due to the state’s strict environmental rules.
The article further states, “Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom said he wants to end oil drilling in the state by 2045. Offshore drilling was restricted in the state after a devastating 1969 oil spill off Santa Barbara that dumped 80,000 barrels into the ocean. Another spill off Santa Barbara in 2015 sent as much as 2,400 barrels onto the shore and into the Pacific.”
Oceana, an ocean conservation group, also called for an end to offshore oil and gas drilling. Jacqueline Savitz, Oceana’s Chief Policy Officer, said in a statement: “This is just the latest tragedy of the oil industry. It’s well past time to prevent future oil spills by permanently protecting our coasts from offshore drilling.”
Reuters reported, according to Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, that the oil had infiltrated the Talbert Marsh, a large ecological reserve, causing “significant damage.”
Moreover, beaches were closed to swimming and a local air show was canceled, although some people were undeterred from setting up chairs on the beach to enjoy a sunny Sunday or strolling along the pier.
Even as California grapples with this ‘environmental catastrophe’, Guyana is yet to put measures in place to effectively deal with such a disaster. Kaieteur News had reported that Guyana lacks the funds, equipment, personnel and experience to deal with a well blowout. Such an occurance, this publication had reported, would be economically and environmentally catastrophic and have a comparable impact on shareholders’ investments in ExxonMobil.
What makes Guyana’s case even more concerning is the fact that it is without full coverage insurance for any of the projects being led by ExxonMobil in conjunction with its partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited.

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