HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — The oil sheen spotted in Huntington Beach last week appears to be natural seepage of crude bubbling up from the ocean floor, a Coast Guard spokesman said, but its definitive source is unclear Tuesday.

What You Need To Know

  • A Coast Guard spokesman said the oil sheen spotted in Huntington Beach appears to be natural seepage of crude bubbling up from the ocean floor.
  • The Coast Guard was in "decontamination phase" as of Monday morning as the agency cleans its equipment and works on disposing of the oil waste
  • What was unusual about the incident was how much crude was seen, the spokesperson said. Usually, natural seepage goes unnoticed
  • The Coast Guard has collected 1,050 pounds of oil waste and recovered 85 gallons of oil from the sheen

The Coast Guard was in "decontamination phase" as of Monday morning as the agency cleans its equipment and works on disposing of the oil waste, Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Uranga said.

Tests of oil from the area's oil-drilling rigs did not match the crude that was originally spotted in a roughly 2.5-mile-long sheen Thursday evening, Uranga said. So experts believe it is likely from natural seepage, Uranga added.

What was unusual about the incident was how much crude was seen, he said. Usually, natural seepage goes unnoticed, he added.

"We don't know what caused so much to appear," he said.

Coast Guard officials issued a statement Monday saying experts could not "definitively identify the oil source."

But, according to the statement, the samples analyzed "confirm that the release is lightly weathered crude oil and not a refined product like gasoline or diesel. They also indicate that the samples are consistent with local crude oil with characteristics of the Monterey Formation and not imported crude oil that may be brought by ship to California."

The experts discounted that it had anything to do with a discharge of produced water from oil Platform Elly Friday morning.

The Coast Guard has collected 1,050 pounds of oil waste and recovered 85 gallons of oil from the sheen, Uranga said.

The 1,000-yard safety zone that had been established in the area was lifted, Uranga said.

It's unknown how much the recovery costs are at this time, since efforts are ongoing.

The Coast Guard's Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach Command Center said it received a report at 6:50 p.m. Thursday of an unknown substance in the water 1.5 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach.

Coast Guard Pollution Responders got underway at 6:30 a.m. Friday with a Newport Harbor Patrol boat to investigate. A Coast Guard helicopter also conducted an overflight in the area at sunrise that morning. Upon investigation, an oil sheen was discovered that spanned 2.5 miles in length and a half-mile in width, roughly 2.8 miles off Huntington Beach near platforms Emmy and Eva, according to the Coast Guard.

Despite not having drones to review the oil sheen, the Coast Guard was "still able to get visual information," Uranga said.

"We were very fortunate the Coast Guard responded as quickly as they could," Uranga added.

Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley credited reforms implemented following the 2021 oil spill for helping with coordinating the response.

"We have a better system in place now," Foley said Friday. "Everybody is all coordinated now -- better than they were before so they got a quick response out there."