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Home My WebLink About2021-10-07; Orange County Pipeline Oil Spill Incident (Districts - All); Harrison, DavidTo the members of the: <;ITY COUNCIL Date 10h/:JJ CA ✓CC V CM ~ACM V DCM (3)~ Oct. 7, 2021 To: Council Memorandum From: David Harrison, Assist n~._,~;.;tor of Emergency Services Via: Re: Scott Chadwick, City an Orange County Pipelin {city of Carlsbad Memo ID #2021190 This memorandum provides information related to the Orange County pipeline oil spill incident. Background According to the first Unified Command statement dated October 2, 2021, the U.S. Coast Guard received an initial report of an oil sheen off the coast of Newport Beach approximately 9:10 am Saturday, Oct. 2. The spill was reported to be 13 square miles in size, 3 miles off the coast of Newport Beach. The Coast Guard and Huntington Beach Police Department dispatched aircraft to assess the spill. California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response engaged in monitoring for oiled wildlife. This information was shared among Carlsbad staff Sunday morning. Also Sunday morning, staff alerted the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services to the spill, the spill's southerly direction, Carlsbad's sensitive habitats, and map layers describing the spill's perimeter. Map layers developed from aircraft observations of the oil and oil sheen on the water first showed the spill extending from off Huntington Beach south, to approximately 10 miles west of Laguna Beach. Later that morning, Carlsbad staff were informed that the Director of San Diego County's Office of Emergency Services was heading to the Orange County Unified Command location. On Oct. 5 Carlsbad Emergency Management Administrative Team was briefed on the oil spill and response operations. Diver reports and underwater camera footage show that a 4,000-foot section of the 17. 7 mile-long pipeline was displaced with a maximum lateral movement of approximately 105 feet and a 13-inch split, running parallel to the pipe. On the evening of Oct. 6, California State Park Lifeguards discovered tar balls under state jurisdiction in the vicinity west of Pine Avenue and Carlsbad Boulevard. As a result, CDFW-OSPR will be sending a Shoreline Cleanup & Assessment Technique (SCAT) team to Carlsbad Oct. 7. This information has been coordinated with County representative to the Unified Command, Poseidon Desai Plant and neighboring jurisdictions. Carlsbad Fire Department 2560 Orion Way I Carlsbad, CA 92010 I 760-931-2141 ) Council Memo -Orange County Pipeline Oil Spill Incident Oct. 7, 2021 Page 2 CAFW-OSPR in communication with Poseidon has stated that they are in the process of gathering the necessary resources to deploy a boom at the inlet of the Agua H!;!dionda lagoon; the exact schedule is still being set as they bring the necessary equipment and personnel down to Carlsbad, but they will provide an update by the end of day Oct. 7 with the status. At this time, they do not consider there to be an immediate risk of the oil spill entering the Agua Hedionda Lagoon today/tomorrow, but they want to ensure the boom is installed ahead of any oil getting too far south. Discussion Response organization Marine oil spill response organizations, operations, roles and responsibilities are detailed in U.S. Coast Guard Regional and Area Contingency Plans. The Unified Command organization is made up of representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard (lead federal agency), Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, the responsible party --Beta Offshore, a subsidiary of Amplify Energy --and impacted county representatives. The federal on scene coordinator is Coast Guard Capt. Rebecca Ore. The State on scene coordinator is Lt. Christian Corbo from the Office of Spill Prevention and Response and the local on scene coordinator is Cymantha Atkinson, representing Orange County. The San Diego County Director of Emergency Services, Jeff Toney, has been effectively representing San Diego coastal cities, including Carlsbad, at the Unified Command since Sunday. Carlsbad's EOC has been monitoring the oil spill since Sunday and providing updates to the San Diego representative at the Unified Command. Although Carlsbad has not yet been impacted, Carlsbad staff have been virtually attending Orange County operation center briefings and California Cities briefings. The Unified Command is made up of numerous sections (Operations, Planning, Logistics and Finance) and divisions (situation status, resource unit, environmental unit, response technical evaluation unit, air operations, maritime operations and Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique unit, among others). Over 200 responders signed into the command post on Oct. 5. Shore clean-up crews have exceeded 750 personnel, with the number expecting to swell in coming days. The Marine Spill Response Corporation has assigned eight vessels, and the Coast Guard has assigned three, to offshore oil recovery and security. Five or more aircraft are conducting wildlife and sheen monitoring operations, with more than 15 flights a day. CTEH, an environmental consulting firm, is providing air quality monitoring. Oil contamination Since Oct. 2, the oil spill has contaminated shoreline and the oil sheen has continued to spread south. As of the evening of Oct. 6, significant shore contamination, including beach "tar balls," has impacted Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, and small amounts of particulate matter have been found as far south as Dana Point. Pipeline survey work saw no indications of a continuing oil release at the potential source of the leak. ) Council Memo -Orange County Pipeline Oil Spill Incident Oct. 7, 2021 Page 3 Sheen modeling remains challenging and uncertain. According to monitoring aircraft flown the afternoon of Oct. 5, a potential sheen was observed offshore, west of Camp Pendleton, roughly two-thirds the way from San Clemente south to Oceanside. However, surface vessels were deployed to the area and did not locate any oil. There was a sheen spotted Oct. 6, 11 miles southwest of San Clemente, and the furthest south any oil was observed was 13 miles southwest of San Onofre State Beach, not near the immediate shoreline. The Coast Guard's Sector San Diego Area Contingency Plan, dated May 2018, details environmentally sensitive sites in coastal San Diego county. It also prescribes oil spill response strategies, including booming and skimming. This plan identifies two environmentally sensitive sites in Carlsbad, Agua Hedionda Lagoon and Batiquitos Lagoon. While Buena Vista Lagoon is not included in the contingency plan, Carlsbad can make the case for protective measures if necessary. The contingency plan identifies the protected species at the lagoons: Belding's savannah sparrow, light-footed Ridgway's rail, Western snowy plover and California least tern. The contingency plan response strategies identify booms, vessels and staff necessary to protect the lagoons and provides contact information for key responders, including the on-call spill coordinator the state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, the City of Carlsbad and among others. San Diego County's representative to the Unified Command has raised Carlsbad's sensitive sites with the Unified Command each day since Monday. The contingency plan states that power plant intakes and desalination plants, including those at the Claude "Bud" Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, will receive a first priority response. On Oct. 5, the Unified Command briefed that the first sensitive site in San Diego County, Santa Margarita River, was being assessed by the state Fish and Wildlife -Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique team. Carlsbad staff immediately alerted Poseidon and forwarded Poseidon's contact information to the Unified Command through the San Diego County representative. Since then, Poseidon, NRG and Agua Hedionda tenants including the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation have been in communication. Poseidon has been coordinating protection measures, including possible booming, with state Fish and Wildlife staff. No San Diego county city has been confirmed as impacted by the oil spill to date. Orange County cities: impact and response Closures -Harbors, beaches, piers & fisheries Soft closures: Cities and agencies that closed beaches • City of Huntington Beach • City of Newport Beach • Emerald Bay Service District closed beach ) Council Memo -Orange County Pipeline Oil Spill Incident Oct. 7, 2021 Page 4 • City of Laguna Beach • Orange County-controlled beaches in City of Newport Beach • The California State Parks-controlled beaches Huntington Beach, Bolsa Chica and Crystal Cove State Parks Hard closures: Closure of the ocean, the shoreline, and the beach itself • Orange County Parks have closed county beaches in Laguna Beach Harbor closures • Newport Harbor • Dana Point Harbor Fisheries closure • California Department of Fish & Wildlife has declared fisheries closed between Sunset Beach in northern Orange County and San Clemente in the south. Emergency proclamations • The City of Huntington Beach • The City of Laguna Beach • The City of Newport Beach • The County of Orange The State of California Wildlife Impact UC Davis' Veterinary Medicine, Oiled Wildlife Care Network has been activated to rescue and rehabilitate the oiled wildlife. To date, 13 birds have been recovered alive and two have been recovered dead or had to be euthanized. SeaWorld's rescue team is on standby preparing their Oiled Wildlife Care Center for any animals sent their way from the spill. Volunteers The Unified Command is currently using pre-trained and affiliated volunteers. Public volunteers are now being registered through: Calspi llwatch.wildlife.ca .gov/volunteer. Some Orange county cities are using CERT for non-contamination related support activities. Additional information Current Unified Command media releases and updates can be found at https://socalspillresponse.com. Continuing actions • EOC activation and oil spill trajectory monitoring • Staff, community and stakeholder coordination • Sensitive site protective measure coordination • Public information sharing Council Memo -Orange County Pipeline Oil Spill Incident Oct. 7, 2021 Page 5 • Lifeguards conducting visual beach inspections, coordinated with State Parks lifeguards Actions should oil contamination occur in Carlsbad • Beach, water and shoreline closure assessment • Agency representative assigned to Unified Command post • Sensitive site protective measure implementation • Declaration of local disaster proclamation • San Diego coastal cities response plan coordination Potential community interests or concerns • Reports of beach contamination, foul odors and oiled wildlife • Air quality • Financial impacts and recovery • Environmental impact • Business impacts • Responsible party liability and accountability • Future of offshore oil operations • Volunteer opportunities • Donation opportunities cc Celia Brewer, City Attorney Cindie McMahon, Assistant City Attorney Allegra Frost, Deputy City Attorney Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, Community Services Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Public Works Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services Michael Calderwood, Fire Chief Mickey Williams, Police Chief David Graham, Chief Innovation Officer Kristina Ray, Communication & Engagement Director Kyle Lancaster, Parks & Recreation Director