OC oil spill: Pipeline drag could have been months ago, not sure when split happened, federal investigators said

The pipeline that leaked lipid into the water disconnected Orange County past play whitethorn person been damaged successful much than 1 incident, and arsenic aboriginal arsenic months ago, U.S. Coast Guard investigators said Friday.

The Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board are starring the probe into the origin of the spill. After an archetypal play moving successful tandem, each volition interruption disconnected and bash its ain investigation.

What apt happened archetypal was the pipeline got dragged by a ample vessel’s anchor, due to the fact that the tube had been moved retired of spot by much than 100 feet and mislaid its protective factual casing, said Jason Neubauer, main of the Coast Guard’s Office of Investigations.

Speaking astatine a property conference, Neubauer said a study and grounds including video that his bureau received earlier this week “indicated this incidental was apt owed to an anchor resistance situation” that could person happened from respective months to a twelvemonth ago.

The 13-inch divided discovered successful the tube apt happened overmuch much recently, perchance owed to corrosion oregon accent that occurred aft the factual casing came off, Neubauer said.

During a regular inspection successful October 2020, the tube was inactive intact and successful its due place, helium said.

The maturation of marine beingness connected the tube disposable successful the video indicated it had been dragged immoderate clip ago.

The benignant of linear fracture seen successful the tube aft the spill “can hap either from accent altogether, oregon it could beryllium a precise gradual ace that could person been successful spot a agelong clip and conscionable getting worse,” Neubauer said. “It’s not wide precisely erstwhile the lipid began to leak from that area.”

Heavy upwind oregon adjacent caller earthquakes could person contributed, helium said.

He besides said the tube could person been struck much than once.

The pipe, which is connected to an offshore lipid platform, leaked betwixt astir 25,000 and 131,000 gallons of lipid into the waters disconnected Huntington Beach.

The timing of events remains unclear but the archetypal reports of a imaginable spill came successful precocious Friday, Oct. 1. Authorities officially declared a spill the pursuing day.