A pipeline failure in Southern California has caused massive amounts of oil to seep into the Pacific Ocean.
At least 126,000 gallons of oil spilled into the ocean off the coast of Orange County at 9 p.m. on Saturday, creating a growing 13-square-mile slick, The New York Times reported.
“The impact to the environment is irreversible,” Katrina Foley, a supervisor for Orange County, said at a news conference on Saturday night.
Dead fish and birds have already begun to wash ashore smothered by the oil which extends from Huntington Beach to Newport Beach. Clean up crews rushed to contain the spill, deploying more than 1,000 feet of booms, but the oil continued to leak into the water Sunday, officials said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the spill, but the source has been narrowed down to three miles off the coast of Newport Beach, connected to an offshore oil platform operated by Beta Offshore.
Mayor Kim Carr of Huntington Beach said the city is working with state, county and federal partners to mitigate what "could be a potential ecological disaster."
The oil slick may have infiltrated the Talbert Marsh, an ecological reserve close to Huntington State Beach that is home to dozens of species of birds.
A spokeswoman for Beta Offshore told The Los Angeles Times that workers shut the pipeline down on Saturday and used pressurized equipment to retrieve as much oil as possible.
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