NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — The City of Newport Beach has issued a state of emergency triggering broader powers for its city manager and setting it up to apply for reimbursement for oil spill-related spending.

Newport Beach City Councilmember Will O’Neill said the emergency declaration would allow City Manager Grace Leung to act more nimbly. Additionally, it could help the city apply for aid later should it have to spend money on cleaning or economic relief. 

What You Need To Know

  • Newport Beach declared a local emergency Wednesday to grant the city manager the flexibility to make certain decisions without a city council vote

  • The city has already closed the harbor at the direction of the Coast Guard

  • The city has asked the coast guard if ships and boats can leave harbor at low tide when the current will be heading out anyway

  • The spill has effectively shut down all party boat, sportfishing and Duffy boat business in the city

At least 126,000 gallons of heavy crude oil spilled about five miles off the coast Saturday shutting down shoreline activity. Huntington Beach was hit hardest first, but the oil has recently spread to Newport Beach and Laguna Beach.

O’Neill surveyed the spill along with fellow City Councilmembers Joy Brenner, Diane Dixon and Kevin Muldoon. They flew on a Coast Guard C-27 fixed-wing aircraft where O’Neill saw thick black blobs of oil.

“I could see the scope of the spill and how long the trail of oil was going to extend,” he said.

O’Neill praised the Coast Guard for its quick action in mitigating the damage but noted that the effects of the spill will endure, and sustained cleanup is required.

That cleanup, so far, has been directed by the Coast Guard out of a joint operating location in Long Beach. The city is still getting direction for the Coast Guard and doesn’t have plans to use city employees for cleanup and has directed lifeguards to educate visitors who may stray too close to a contaminated area.

The city is still grappling with what it can do to help and chose to grant emergency authority to Leung in order to avoid the need for a vote on decisions she might need to make quickly.

Among the hardest hit by the spill have been local businesses.

Related Stories

Steve Rosansky, CEO of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, said local businesses are already worried.

“A number of businesses I've talked to have said they’re already losing money,” he said.

With the harbor closed, sportfishing businesses and whale watching tours can’t operate. Hotels have seen cancelations, he said, and regular beach visitors may go elsewhere.

During the pandemic, the city thought creatively to give business owners breathing room by offering aid like tax credits. 

“I don’t think the city has had enough time to react and make those allowances and I don’t know how much power they’d have to help,” Rosansky said.

He added that the city has asked the Coast Guard if boats can leave harbor during low tide when the current will be heading away from shore.