More and more research is showing that babies born near oil and gas wells are more likely to suffer from health threats such as premature births, heart defects, and low birth weight. In response, a major oil company sued the county, prompting Earthjustice to step in and defend the ordinance on behalf of local groups. The spill caused beaches to be closed and large amounts of crude oil were deposited along the shores of Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Huntington Beach, killing fish and birds and endangering sensitive wetlands. Michael Ziccardi, veterinarian and director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, reported that only four oleaginous birds had been found.
It may come as a surprise that California, which often claims to be a leader in environmental progress, has failed to properly regulate its own oil and gas industry for over a century, with devastating consequences for the health of people living nearby. Residents of the area reported noticing an oil glow and a strong smell of oil on Friday night. The danger posed by the oil industry's negligence is further compounded by the fact that much of California's oil infrastructure is aging and deteriorating. On land, there was a rush to find animals affected by oil and prevent the spill from damaging any other delicate wetlands.
The first oil pipeline that broke released 25,000 gallons of oil into the ocean; cleaning crews were able to recover 9,076 gallons. People living near oil and gas wells are exposed to a mix of air pollutants linked to asthma, cancer, pregnancy complications, premature births, and an increased risk of dying from COVID-19 due to long-term exposure to air pollution. The NRDA will assess the damage caused by the oil spill in terms of habitat destruction and human use. Bonham reported that during the first week of the response, nearly 1,500 people were deployed to clean beaches and sensitive environmental sites, contain oil floating on the coast, and treat wildlife covered in spilled oil.
Before the spill occurred, Amplify had high hopes for the Beta oil field and was investing millions of dollars in improvements and new “parallel” projects that would allow for extraction through lateral drilling. Sightings of oil or tar balls should be reported to the National Response Center (1-800-424-880) or to the California Office of Emergency Services (1-800-852-7550). More than 5,000 gallons of oil have been recovered with foamers and over half a million pounds of oily sand and debris have been removed. The impact of environmental regulations on Orange County's oil and gas industry has been significant.
Research has shown that babies born near these wells are more likely to suffer from health issues such as premature births, heart defects, and low birth weight. In response to this issue, a major oil company sued the county prompting Earthjustice to step in on behalf of local groups. The spill caused beaches to be closed off due to large amounts of crude oil being deposited along Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Huntington Beach shores killing fish and birds as well as endangering sensitive wetlands. Michael Ziccardi who is a veterinarian as well as director of Oiled Wildlife Care Network reported that only four oleaginous birds had been found.
It may come as a surprise that California which is often seen as a leader in environmental progress has failed to properly regulate its own oil and gas industry for over a century with devastating consequences for people living nearby. Residents reported noticing an oil glow as well as a strong smell of oil on Friday night which further compounded the danger posed by the industry's negligence due to much of California's aging infrastructure deteriorating. On land there was a rush to find animals affected by oil as well as prevent any other delicate wetlands from being damaged by it. The first pipeline that broke released 25000 gallons into the ocean with cleaning crews being able to recover 9076 gallons.
People living near these wells are exposed to air pollutants linked to asthma cancer pregnancy complications premature births as well as an increased risk of dying from COVID-19 due to long term exposure to air pollution. The NRDA will assess any damage caused by this spill in terms of habitat destruction as well as human use. Bonham reported that during the first week nearly 1500 people were deployed in order to clean beaches sensitive environmental sites contain any floating oil on coastlines as well as treat wildlife covered in spilled oil. Before this incident Amplify had high hopes for Beta Oil Field investing millions into improvements as well as new parallel projects allowing for extraction through lateral drilling.
Sightings of any tar balls or oil should be reported either to National Response Center (1800-424-880) or California Office Of Emergency Services (1800-852-7550). More than 5000 gallons have been recovered with foamers while over half a million pounds of oily sand debris have been removed.
