2021 Southern California Oil Spill

Oil spill event impacts important urban ocean habitats

The USC Sea Grant Program, last updated on:

December 13, 2023

Platforms Ellen and Elly offshore near Long Beach, California. Ellen (right) is a production platform connected by a walkway to Platform Elly (left), a processing platform for both Ellen and another platform, Eureka. (Photo from BSEE, taken October 22, 2012)

This page was created by the USC Sea Grant Program and will be updated with information and resources as the oil spill event (i.e. Pipeline 0919 Incident) and clean-up progresses.

On October 2nd, 2021, a major oil spill was detected in Southern California, originating from an underwater pipe connected to the Elly platform about 4.5 miles offshore near Long Beach. There is now a high degree of confidence that the spill amount is approximately 24,696 gallons. This number was reached by consensus across seven agencies involved in the incident (US Coast Guard, PHMSA, CDFW, NOAA, CA SLC, OSFM, and BSEE).

Marine oil spills are detrimental to the marine and coastal environment, natural resources, and the health and economies of coastal communities.

We acknowledge that the lands impacted by this spill event are on the traditional territory, homelands, and waters of the Tongva, Kizh, and Acjachmen nations.

Response

Graphics explaining Phases of Oil Spill Response and Cleanup Endpoints are available below:

Unified Command "Phases of Oil Spill Response" Fact Sheet
Unified Command "Cleanup Endpoints" Fact Sheet

Latest Updates

Disclaimer: All quoted statements below were provided by Unified Command

On December 5, 2023, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released suggestions to the U.S. Coast Guard to increase the required distance between anchored ships and oil pipelines as well as develop improved communication and monitoring of vessels near pipelines. These suggestions are based on the findings from the NTSB’s two-year review that the Southern California oil spill was a direct result of container ships anchoring too closely to offshore pipelines. Additionally, the review found that improved communication and planning between ship operators and pipeline operators could have potentially avoided the spill. Read more at LA Times .
A Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) is ongoing. An NRDA is a process to determine the appropriate type and amount of restoration needed to offset impacts to fisheries, wildlife, habitats, and human uses impacted by this oil spill incident. Natural resources evaluated include birds, marine mammals, fish, as well as water column, shoreline, subtidal, and marsh habitats. Potential impacts from the incident to human uses provided by those natural resources include the lost use and enjoyment of public beaches and waterways. These efforts to collect time-critical chemical, biological, and human use information to understand the impacts of the spill on these resources continued after the response phase officially concluded. See updates on the NRDA process here .
As of December 27, 2021, the spill response entered a transition period. After sustained cleanup operations for the Southern California oil spill (P00547 incident off of Platform Elly), “affected shoreline segments have been returned to their original condition.” The Unified Command continued to monitor tar ball and oiling incidents along with associated sampling results to determine the source of the oil. Cleanup crews prepared to respond to further oiling and shoreline monitoring continued to take place. The public is asked to report any sizeable sightings of oil or oily debris to the National Response Center hotline at 1-800-424-8802.
Unified Command investigated and secured the source of offshore oil sheens observed on December 15 and 22, 2021 approximately one mile offshore of Bolsa Chica State Beach. Pipeline 0919 off of Platform Eva is located in the area where the sheen was observed. This pipeline is within California state waters and state agencies work within the Unified Command to locate, isolate and mitigate potential leaks in the line with the support of aerial overflights, divers, shoreline reconnaissance, and boom protection strategies (currently in place at Bolsa Chica Wetlands, Newport Slough). All platform and pipeline operations ceased on 12/22/2021 until further notice. Cleanup crews were deployed to clean up tarballs that came onshore at Huntington Beach on 12/23/2021. Response assets were staged in the area on 12/22/2021 as part of a proactive plan. Wildlife teams surveyed the beaches for potential impacts. Divers worked to excavate the pipeline in the area of the breach in order to move forward with repair operations.
On December 15, 2021, a federal grand jury charged three companies (Amplify Energy, Beta Operating Co. and San Pedro Bay Pipeline Co.) with criminal negligence in connection with the oil spill that tarred the Orange County coast in October 2021. Read more at LA Times .
5,544 gallons of liquid oil have been recovered as well as 13.6 bbl of tar balls. Additionally, 549,658 lbs of oil sand and debris have been collected from the shoreline over the course of the cleanup.
763.12 miles of shoreline were cleaned over the course of the clean-up process.
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has determined that there is no further risk to public health related to seafood consumption. More information is available here . In addition, reports summarizing the Chemical Testing Results and Risk Assessment completed by OEHHA are available here .
The beaches remain open and there is no reported public health risk at this time. The public health assessment unit of the Unified Command conducted air, water, and sediment sampling in Orange County and San Diego County. Based on the water and sediment data received and analyzed, the air, water, and sediment do not pose a public health concern for short-term exposures from the use of the water and beaches in the affected counties (as of 10/26/2021).

Contractors conduct cleanup operations on Crystal Cove Beach

More information about responses to oil spills in California are available below:

To learn more about the Southern California oil spill response, visit the Southern California Spill Response .
To learn about response efforts to oil spills in California, visit Cal Spill Watch .

City Beach Closures and Updates

All harbors and State Parks in Orange County and San Diego County are open. Laguna Beach is now fully open. Laguna Beach is open as of 10/14/2021 and Crystal Cove as of 10/12/2021. All city beaches in Newport Beach were reopened on 10/11/2021.

All city and state beaches in Huntington Beach were reopened on 10/11/2021

All Orange County beaches are open as of 10/11/2021

City of Huntington Beach Oil Spill Update (October 3, 2021)

Newport Beach Oil Spill Response - Initial UC Statement (October 2, 2021)

Fisheries Closures

CDFW Fisheries Closure Map (10/07/21) - closure lifted on 11/30/2021

California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) determined that there is no further risk to public health related to seafood consumption. OEHHA sampled seafood in the area from Oct. 14 to Nov. 3 in order to measure and evaluate levels of certain chemicals found in oil . The fisheries closure was lifted at on November 11, 2021.
A fisheries closure began on 10/03/2021 and prohibited the take of all fish and shellfish from Huntington Beach to Dana Point, including the shorelines and offshore areas, and all bays. On that day, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) determined that a threat to public health from consuming fish in the affected area was likely. OEHHA recommended the closure to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The CDFW’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response Administrator, Thomas Cullen, signed the closure on behalf of CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. On Oct. 5 and Oct. 7, the original closure area was expanded to include approximately 650 square miles of marine waters and approximately 45 miles of shoreline. The closure boundaries also included all bays and harbors from Seal Beach to San Onofre State Beach.
More information about the fisheries closure can be found on the response website ( https://socalspillresponse.com/fisheries-closure/ ) and reports summarizing the Chemical Testing Results and Risk Assessment completed by OEHHA is available on OEHHA’s website ( https://oehha.ca.gov/fish/oil-spills-seafood ).

Investigation

On December 5, 2023, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released the findings from their two-year review. Read the findings and suggestions here or read more at LA Times .

What you can do

Report tarballs - do not clean yourself. Send an email to tarballreports@wildlife.ca.gov with a photo, your contact information, as well as the date, time, and location of any tar balls you see on the beach.
Over 10,000 volunteers signed up via CalSpillWatch to assist with the Pipeline P00547 Incident response. At this time, they have fulfilled their volunteer need and will be closing the volunteer registration portal.
If you would like to sign up to be trained for future emergencies and cleanups, you can fill out the OSPR Incident Volunteer Form , or call the volunteer hotline at 1-800-228-4544 for more information.
At this time all necessary supplies and equipment to support the cleanup effort are being provided by the Unified Command, paid for by the responsible party, and additional items are not needed from the public.

For Concerns and Questions

Report wildlife concerns – Oiled Wildlife Care Network (877) 823-6926
Health related questions – Orange County Health Care Agency: (714) 834-2000
General oil spill inquiries – Huntington Beach Oil Spill Hotline: (714) 374-1702

Impacts to Habitat and Wildlife

Oil spills can be devastating to important coastal habitats and wildlife. Coordinated response to oil spill events is necessary to mitigate damage. Beaches, sensitive ecological wetlands, and marine protected areas are vulnerable and at risk.

116 birds have been recovered--34 of which were recovered alive, and the remaining 82 of which were recovered dead (note that not all were visibly oiled). 6 marine mammals were recovered dead. One N. Right Whale Dolphin was recovered alive. The Oiled Wildlife Care Network, in cooperation with the UC, has released 22 birds after proper cleaning and rehabilitation. For a comprehensive list of species recovered during response activities see: https://owcn.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/pipeline-p00547-incident

Explore these habitats in the interactive map below. The spill originated from some point in the pipeline connected to Platform Elly.

Orange County Wetlands, Beaches, and MPAs