Miles-long oil slick spotted off coast of Huntington Beach

Authorities are investigating an oil slick discovered off the coast of Huntington Beach in Southern California on Friday.

The slick is about 2.5-miles-long, and is located about 3 miles off the coast, near the oil platforms named Emmy and Eva the U.S. Coast Guard reported.

"Aerial surveys are planned to assess the size and potential impacts," the Coast Guard said in a social media post. 

The Coast Guard has taken samples from oil sheen and is trying to minimize any environmental impact it could have by using booms and absorbent material to limit the oil from spreading, the agency said.

In another statement Friday afternoon, the Coast Guard said that it was "contacting all potential spill sources in the area, but no source has been identified," adding that it has "hired an oil spill response organization to conduct offshore oil collection and is working to identify possible impacts to the shoreline and environmental protection strategies."

The agency also reported that it had established a unified command with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the sheriff's department to respond the sheen. 

Amplify Energy said in statement Friday that there is "no indication that this sheen is related to our operations."

In October 2021, a rupture to an Amplify Energy oil pipeline off the Huntington Beach coast spilled 25,000 gallons of oil into the ocean. as believed that a ship's anchor dragged across it. Amplify has claimed that a ship's anchor had damaged the pipeline and caused the leak. 

The Orange County Sheriff's Department were the first to report the sheen, which was spotted around 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley wrote earlier on X that crews were responding to the area, saying there were initial reports that oil had spilled from an offshore platform. 

Some tar balls were spotted on the sand in Huntington Beach, but it was unclear if the two events were related.