HUNTINGTON BEACH, California — Federal officials on Tuesday recommended increasing the distance from undersea pipelines where ships are allowed to anchor in Southern California, citing a 2021 oil spill that they say was caused by ships whose anchors were dragged over a pipeline after a storm.
The leak occurred in a ruptured pipeline owned by Houston-based Amplify Energy. National Transportation Safety Board officials concluded that damage to the pipeline was caused months earlier when a cold front brought high winds and seas to the Southern California coast, causing two container ships anchored offshore to drag their anchors across the area where the pipeline was located. .
The spill of 25,000 gallons (94,600 liters) in October 2021 left blobs of raw wax ashore in Huntington Beach and nearby communities, shuttered beaches and fishing areas, covered birds in oil and threatened wetlands.
The Beijing and the MSC Danit – each more than 335 meters long – had displaced and damaged the pipeline in January 2021, while an attack from the Danit's anchor caused the eventual release of crude oil, officials said.
The NTSB concluded that the pipeline rupture was likely caused by the proximity of anchored shipping vessels. The agency's board members recommended that authorities increase the safety margin between ships at anchor en route to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and undersea pipelines in the area.
They also urged maritime traffic authorities across the country to provide audible and visual alarms to those assigned to keep watch when ships are anchored near pipelines. Procedures are also needed to notify pipeline operators when a potential incursion occurs, they said.
The recommendations, as well as several others, followed a nearly four-hour hearing on the spill, one of the largest in Southern California in recent years.
Andrew Ehlers, the NTSB's lead investigator, said the pipeline carrying crude oil from offshore platforms to shore was about 1,500 feet (457 meters) from ship anchorages in the area.
Since the spill, Amplify pleaded guilty to federal charges of negligence in its crude oil discharge and agreed to install new leak detection technology. The company also reached a settlement with local residents and companies offering surfing lessons and leisure cruises in Huntington Beach – a city of nearly 200,000 known as “Surf City USA” – who claimed they were adversely affected by the spill.
Meanwhile, Amplify and local companies have sued shipping companies linked to Beijing and Danit. Those lawsuits were settled earlier this year.
