Oil sheen confirmed off Huntington Beach; Coast Guard investigating

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a potential oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach in Orange County, officials said Friday.

Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner’s office confirmed by phone that “details are scant,” but officials have confirmed that an oil sheen visible on the surface of the water about two miles off the coast is not from natural causes.

But Wagner and her colleague Supervisor Katrina Foley both tweeted about the incident Friday morning to their constituents.

“Early thoughts are that it’s from a platform,” Foley stated online at 8:05 a.m. The city of Huntington Beach has not announced closures for any water recreational activities just yet.

A KTLA-TV News helicopter captured images and video of a dark, reflective substance floating across the waters.

“Initial estimates are about 2 miles wide,” Wagner stated on the social media platform X at 9:05 a.m. “Emergency personnel are on scene and working to identify the source.”

A county emergency response team was on the water assessing the situation, according to Foley’s office. “We’ll know more when we get there.”

Last August, officials advised the public to steer clear of Huntington Beach after a 40-foot vessel carrying 300 gallons of diesel sank just off the coast.

Four months earlier, a $50-million settlement was awarded to individuals and businesses affected by a ruptured underwater oil pipeline in 2021 that leaked about 25,000 gallons of crude into the ocean and along the coast in Huntington Beach. Following an investigation, the National Transportation and Safety Board called for shipping containers to anchor further from offshore pipelines to prevent future accidents.