Weather Aids Cleanup of Two-Thirds of Spill : Disaster: But a cold front is coming that could push more oil ashore.

Blessed with four days of near-perfect weather for cleanup operations, Coast Guard officials estimated Sunday that two-thirds of the crude oil from a 394,000-gallon offshore spill has been recovered or broken up by evaporation and ocean currents.

“From the overall spill, we have picked up and confirmed as oil about 23%,” Petty Officer Dennis Hall said. “Another 43% of the spill has either evaporated or naturally disintegrated into the water.”

That leaves about 131,087 gallons of oil in the ocean, covering a 60-square-mile area, though much of that is only a light film or “sheen,” Coast Guard officials said. The oil in the water still poses serious hazards to environmentally sensitive wetlands along a long stretch of the Orange County coastline and, if a predicted cold front arrives this week, could return to soil beaches.

Wind shifts Sunday evening brought heavy concentrations of oil back to some Orange County beaches. Huntington Beach was reporting thick oil near the pier and along a 3.5-mile stretch to the north, but Seal Beach and Long Beach remained unscathed, Coast Guard officials said.

Although fears were renewed by the shifting wind Sunday afternoon, the day’s reports were dominated by good news.

The Coast Guard, which said the estimates of cleanup and dissipation came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, called the morning findings “very encouraging” but cautioned against over-optimism.

“We’re very happy with the results so far, but we’ve still got a ways to go,” said Coast Guard Capt. James C. Card, who is heading the cleanup.

Sunday’s findings marked the most significant signs of progress since the American Trader, an 80,000-ton tanker bearing Alaskan crude oil for British Petroleum America, ruptured one of its forward oil-bearing compartments Wednesday while attempting to link up with a pipeline off the coast of Huntington Beach. The Coast Guard, which is still investigating the accident, said that one of the tanker’s 12-ton anchors apparently tore two holes in the ship’s hull.

The Coast Guard’s investigation includes drug and alcohol tests of the captain and his senior crew as required by federal law. Crew members already have tested negative for alcohol; results of the drug tests were expected to take a week to 10 days.

Local officials, who huddled in emergency sessions to track the slick and prepare for it to land again along stretches of the Orange County coastline, initially were surprised by the Coast Guard’s estimates, which early in the day put the percentage of recovered or dissipated oil at higher than 75%. “I don’t believe it,” said Lt. Tim Newman, a spokesman for the Newport Beach Police Department and command post.

After consulting with the Coast Guard and hearing its scaled-down estimates, local officials were more receptive. “Today we’re looking at clear beaches and good news from the Coast Guard that something around 60% to 70% of the product is no longer a threat,” said Fire Capt. Ray Pendleton, another spokesman for the city’s command post.

About 8 a.m. Sunday, scuba divers completed repairs on two holes punched in the bottom of the ship, a medium-sized tanker that can hold 23.5 million gallons of oil. The repairs included the installation of layers of prefabricated steel, plywood and water resistant foam over the punctures.

British Petroleum officials said the hole from which about 400,000 gallons of oil escaped measured 3 feet by 5 feet. None of the ship’s cargo apparently leaked from the second, much smaller hole.

With the patches in place, British Petroleum and American Trading Transportation Co., owner of the ship, will ask the Coast Guard to approve the repairs and clear the vessel for return to the Port of Long Beach sometime next week. The ship may even be moved as early as today, officials added.

The damaged hold must be watertight, and both the cargo area and hull must be cleaned of any crude oil residue before the American Trader can get under way. A 9 a.m. meeting between Coast Guard and American Trading Transportation Co. officials is planned to discuss moving the ship.

By Sunday afternoon, the oil stretched over an area 14 miles long and five to six miles wide, with some fingers of sheen close to shore but the main body still about two to four miles out to sea. Fourteen miles of shoreline, including Huntington Beach city and state beaches and Newport Beach, remained closed Sunday, as did entrances to wetlands and harbors including Newport Harbor, Anaheim Bay and Alamitos Bay in Long Beach.

The Coast Guard removed a protective boom from the entrance to Alamitos Bay for a few hours Sunday to allow boaters to return to the enclave of canals and swank marinas near the Orange County line. By 4 p.m. winds picked up out of the west and the boom was put back in place.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Carolyn Feldman said boats trapped inside Alamitos Bay will be provided a free slip until they can leave, but those stranded outside will have to fend for themselves until the bay is reopened.

“They will have to go wherever they can go,” Feldman said. “We put out a broadcast saying when the boom was down and when it was put back up. We are not planning to open the bay again (today).”

Despite Sunday’s startling reports of progress, significant dangers remain: The oil still in the water is more widely spread out, making efforts to clean it up more difficult and increasing the urgency of getting it out of the water quickly.

“It means it’s time for us to go all out,” said Sanford Schmidt, president of American Trading Transportation Co. “We have to move while we can still get it.”

George Oberholtzer, director of the National Spill Control School in Corpus Christi, Tex., agreed, saying that although cleanup crews have benefited from good weather, the quick strides made against the slick will become harder to duplicate with each passing day.

“As the oil becomes more like the water, it makes it much harder to get it out of the water,” Oberholtzer said. “They’re not going to be able to pick it up much longer.”

Additionally, the character of the oil left in the water is changing as it evaporates and dissipates. As the lighter elements evaporate off the top, thicker globules stay behind, and those chunks can smother plants and kill birds and fish.

Calm winds and mild seas throughout the day Sunday aided cleanup efforts. On several area beaches, crews found little to do, so they simply gathered trash and waited for the oil to return. But weather forecasts indicated that they may not have long to wait.

Earlier reports had suggested that onshore breezes, propelled by a cold front working its way down the coast of California, could push much of the oil slick onto beaches late Sunday. The front, however, lost some intensity and slowed down, said Bill Hibbert, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Although the front is not especially powerful, it could be enough to overpower the offshore breezes that have helped keep the slick at bay. The cold front is now expected to arrive sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.

“Once it gets a little closer, the onshore winds will get a little stronger, and it looks like the front could begin bringing it (oil) onshore in earnest,” Hibbert said.

Even before the front arrives, tentacles of the spreading slick reached toward new areas, widening the threat to wildlife. Fingers of oil sheen were spotted outside the entrance to the Port of Long Beach Sunday.

State Department of Fish and Game officials reported Sunday morning that 99 marine birdshave been covered by oil since the spill occurred. Another 48 birds have been killed. Surviving fowl are being cleaned and fed by the Wildlife Rescue Project, which has set up temporary shelters in Huntington Beach.

Bodies of three marine mammals--two seals and one sea lion--have also washed ashore, but Fish and Game officials do not believe those deaths are linked to the oil spill.

Coast Guard officials warned Sunday morning that the northern tip of the slick was heading toward Anaheim Bay and a federal wildlife reserve at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. Extra booms were installed at the 5,000-acre wildlife refuge late Saturday.

The reserve is a prime nesting area for dozens of birds, including the state’s largest populations of least terns and light-footed clapper rails, both endangered species. Wildlife experts say that even small amounts of crude oil can be damaging to wetland habitats.

Tom Thomas, public affairs officer for the weapons station, said Sunday that six booms instead of three are now in place around Anaheim Bay, including two barriers set up at sea to deflect and trap oil before it gets to the bay’s entrance.

“There is no sheen or oil at this point,” Thomas said. “Again the weather is a key factor, the wind and the tides. But the level of concern is not at a peak. It was higher two days ago.”

With the cold front approaching, another critical spot is the mouth of the Santa Ana River--and the vulnerable Huntington Beach wetlands that sit just half a mile behind it, home to several rare bird species. Cleanup crews focused their efforts there Sunday, adding a layer of sandbags to shore up a sand berm that was hastily constructed Friday night.

“That is the one area we’ve seen so far that has had a real threat from the oil and, of course, that’s a very sensitive area,” said Lt. Reed Smith of the U.S. Fish and Game Service.

Despite Friday’s efforts, small amounts of oil may have seeped through during high tide Sunday and over the last few days, officials said.

And Gordon Smith, administrator for the Huntington Wetlands Conservancy, said: “The probability is that if a storm comes Tuesday or Wednesday, the sand (dam) just won’t hold.”

The following Times staff members contributed to the coverage of the Huntington Beach oil spill. In Orange County--Jim Carlton, Tammerlin Drummond, George Frank, Greg Hernandez, Eric Lichtblau, Rose Ellen O’Connor, Shannon Sands and Luz Villareal.

Where The Spill Is Headed Anaheim Bay Containment booms stretched across mouth to keep oil out. Santa Ana River Containment boom. Newport Harbor Containment boom. Spill Site The oil spill stretches more than 14 miles long and 5 to 6 miles wide. Beaches from Newport Beach to Huntington Beach remain shut down. Crews mopped up oil along more than 14 miles of beach front. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration