Spill Unlikely to Rank as Major Ecological Disaster

For reasons ranging from Mother Nature to Orange County’s dense human population, the Huntington Beach oil spill is not expected to go down in history as one of the nation’s major environmental disasters.

Even if more oil had spilled, the ecological consequences of such an accident near an already developed shoreline would be less dire than the effects of a similar spill in a pristine and remote region such as Alaska.

Orange County’s extremely sensitive and rich bird breeding grounds remain at risk from the spill, but the three ocean inlets that feed these largely landlocked refuges are heavily defended by a series of a protective booms and hastily built dams.

But any damage to the environment is unsettling, and nature can be capricious, quickly turning what appears to be a favorable situation into a dangerous one. Hundreds of grunion, for example, began running this week a month ahead of schedule and perished on the oil-drenched beaches.

Attempting to put the hues and cries over the spill in perspective, environmental activists have noted that some of the same wetlands residents now want to protect from invading oil have been proposed for development.

“These wetlands can recover from oil,” said Louann Murray, a biologist who has fought to save the Huntington Beach wetlands from construction. “They will be gone forever if they are developed.”

Although bird deaths continue to mount and many creatures that either live or spawn on sandy beaches will probably succumb, the final toll will be limited because some of the most susceptible wildlife was scared away by people years ago.

Unlike Alaska, the Southern California shore is far from unspoiled. Huntington Beach is dotted with working oil wells just yards from beaches fouled by the spilled oil. Looking out from an island in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, only other green islands and vast empty expanses of water can be seen. At Huntington Beach, the view is obstructed by offshore oil rigs, oil tankers and other shipping.

Numbers tell the story of what an oil spill can mean to such widely disparate regions:

- In Alaska, 36,471 dead birds were found, as little as one-tenth the number actually believed to have perished in last March’s Exxon Valdez spill. Many more birds were thought to have washed up on Alaska’s deserted coastline, never to be retrieved.

In Orange County, 111 birds have died, including nearly two dozen endangered brown pelicans.

- In Alaska, 144 bald eagles succumbed to the oil by feeding on oil-soaked carcasses. Many others were presumed to have been frightened from their nests by the hubbub of the oil cleanup.

In Orange County, the shoreline is too populated to offer refuge for eagles anymore, and the accessibility of the coast makes it extremely unlikely that carcasses will remain there long enough for other predators to be poisoned by them.

- In Alaska, 1,016 dead sea otters were counted, and many more are believed to have died from hypothermia and to have been washed out to sea.

In Orange County, there are no sea otters. These fur-lined creatures were heavily hunted off Southern California’s waters and have not been seen this far south in about 70 years. The sea mammals that do reside off the county’s shore are insulated by blubber, not fur, and are therefore less vulnerable in an oil spill.

- In Alaska, the oil could not have hit at a worse time. The 11-million-gallon spill from the Exxon Valdez occured just as herring--basis of a multimillion-dollar industry--were beginning to spawn. The oil persisted as immature salmon fry were released from the hatcheries to begin their journey to sea, and much of the commercial salmon fishing season had to be canceled.

In Orange County, a “light run” of grunion appears to be the only major fish casualty so far in the 400,000-gallon spill. These little fish come to shore every spring on the high tides to spawn. The females lay their eggs in the sand, and when the eggs hatch two weeks later, the young make their way back into the water.

Biologists speculate that unusually warm waters this year may have tricked some of the silvery little creatures into spawning early. Grunion usually begin wiggling to shore in mid-March and continue all summer. “It’s not the catastrophe that this thing would be if the spill had happened in May, June or July, when we would have a tremendous kill,” said Patrick Moore, a California Department of Fish and Game spokesman. “Future spawning should be OK once the beach is cleaned.”

Besides the time of year, the winds may have spared much of Orange County’s wildlife. They kept the oil offshore and away from the marshes during the first few critical days after the spill. By the time the weather turned, protective oil containment booms had been rigged at the entrances to the marshes and sand dikes built to cut off the ocean water to one of the wetlands.

The marshes are worrisome because they are home to several endangered birds and scores of migratory waterfowl. Wildlife officials consider Upper Newport Bay in Newport Beach and the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach the most valuable of the county’s marshes.

Progress achieved over the years in rescuing some species from the brink of extinction could be wiped out by invading oil, and once sullied, the marshes might take years to recover. Each blade of grass would have to be cleaned by hand, and traces of the oil could persist in the sediments for as long as two decades.

At Anaheim Harbor, five booms were stretched shore to shore to hold any encroaching oil away from the refuge beyond. A skimmer boat is patrolling the waters between two of the booms, and a 24-hour watch by teams of cleanup workers is posted onshore. In addition to the booms, flood gates can be closed if necessary to seal off much of the Bolsa Chica wildlife refuge.

At the mouth of the Santa Ana River, which feeds other Huntington Beach wetlands, bulldozers are shoving mounds of sand into dikes to prevent oil-tainted seawater from moving up the river at high tide. By late Monday, tar balls were lapping at the foot of the dikes.

Newport Harbor, which leads into Upper Newport Bay, remains closed to boat traffic. The harbor entrance is sealed off by three booms.

After inspecting coastal wetlands, officials on Tuesday expressed cautious optimism that protective barriers were holding the oil at bay. “I suspect the wetlands may be less threatened,” said Bill Powell, a Fish and Game patrol captain.

But no one rules out damage should a major storm hit. The booms might not hold against the strong tides.

“As long as we have got oil in the water, I’m concerned about it,” said Fish and Game oil spill coordinator Reid Smith. “I haven’t relaxed.”

In addition to marshes, kelp beds are a key concern of conservationists during an oil spill. Called the forest of the sea, kelp beds teem with life and contribute significantly to the food chain. But the kelp bed nearest the oil spill is just north of Laguna Beach, and some experts believe the toxic properties of the oil will have been diluted by the time the oil moves that far south.

The kelp may have been saved by prompt cleanup, in addition to favorable weather.

Timing is crucial in a cleanup. Unlike Alaska, where it took crews hours and sometimes an entire day to reach remote islands, the Huntington Beach spill was easily accessible. Because of the ability of crews to move quickly, more than 26% of the oil spilled in Orange County has been skimmed from the surface, according to the Coast Guard. In most oil spills, little more than 10% of the oil is ever recovered.

Having a sandy coastline near a spill site is another advantage in an oil cleanup. Scouring oil from rocky coastline, such as that in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, is far more difficult than extracting oil from the kinds of sandy beaches that have so far been blackened in Orange County.

“On the rocks, it’s pretty hard to clean, but on the beaches you can get right on it and clean it up,” said Charles Fullerton, the southwest director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing a damage assessment of the spill.

While the Huntington Beach spill so far has oiled about 12 miles of Southern California beaches, more than 1,244 miles of Alaskan shoreline were fouled by the Exxon Valdez disaster.

The Huntington Beach spill also is dwarfed by the January, 1969, Santa Barbara offshore oil well blowout. In the Santa Barbara spill, 119 miles of coastline were intermittently hit by oil, as well as 21.4 miles on Channel Island shorelines.

An estimated 3.2 million gallons were spilled in Santa Barbara, at least 3,600 birds died on the mainland and uncounted others on the Channel Islands. One study for the state Department of Justice put the total bird deaths between 9,000 and 15,000.

Despite the favorable comparisons to other spills, it still is too early to assess the ultimate damage of the Huntington Beach accident. As the early grunion run demonstrated, unexpected twists of nature can cause damage to escalate.

“This thing is not over, and Mother Nature can do what Mother Nature does between now and then,” said Moore of Fish and Game. “There is no way to second guess that lady.”

MORE OIL ON BEACHES--Cleanup crew doubled as winds threaten to spread damage. A3

FENDING OFF DISASTER The highly developed Orange County coastline and some pure luck have prevented the Huntington Beach oil spill from becoming an ecological disaster. WEATHER: PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND--March 24, 1989: Cold Alaskan temperatures slowed evaporation of oil. HUNTINGTON BEACH--Feb. 7, 1990: Warmer conditions allowed more than 14% of oil to evaporate so far. SANTA BARBARA--Jan. 28, 1969: Similar conditions to Huntington Beach. DEVELOPMENT: PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND--March 24, 1989: A vast area and one of the most pristine regions in the world. HUNTINGTON BEACH--Feb. 7, 1990: Highly developed and commercialized; oil wells dot the shoreline and offshore oil rigs obstruct the view at sea. SANTA BARBARA--Jan. 28, 1969: Mainland developed; oil hit Channel Island Marine Sanctuary. WILDLIFE IMPERILED: PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND--March 24, 1989: American bald eagle, otters, salmon, herring, deer, bear and many species of waterfowl and sea birds; oil hit at spawning time for herring and when immature salmon fry were being released from hatcheries. HUNTINGTON BEACH--Feb. 7, 1990: Many species of sea birds, including the endangered California least tern; halibut and bass sports fishery, but not now spawning. SANTA BARBARA--Jan. 28, 1969: Seals, sea birds, fisheries, barnacles, algae and marine grass. WILDLIFE KILLED: PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND--March 24, 1989: 36,471 dead birds, including 144 bald eagles; many more birds believed washed to sea. HUNTINGTON BEACH--Feb. 7, 1990: 111 birds so far. SANTA BARBARA--Jan. 28, 1969: 3,600 birds; studies indicate toll could have been 9,000-15,000. GALLONS SPILLED: PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND--March 24, 1989: 11 million HUNTINGTON BEACH--Feb. 7, 1990: Less than 394,000 SANTA BARBARA--Jan. 28, 1969: 3,234,000 MILES OF FOULED BEACHES: PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND--March 24, 1989: 1,244 HUNTINGTON BEACH--Feb. 7, 1990: 12 SANTA BARBARA--Jan. 28, 1969: Oil from Pt. Mugu to Point Arguello; 119 miles intermittently hit by oil on the mainland coastline, and 21.4 miles on Channel Island shorelines. COSTS: PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND--March 24, 1989: $2 billion cost to Exxon; $42 million to state, expected to go to $118 million. HUNTINGTON BEACH--Feb. 7, 1990: $4 million-$5 million so far. SANTA BARBARA--Jan. 28, 1969: $1.96 million. Santa Ana River--Containment boom and sand dike protect wetlands Newport Harbor--Containment boom blocks harbor entrance. Wildlife Refuge--Flood gates can be closed if necessary to seal off much of refuge. Anaheim Bay--Series of booms holds back oil; 24-hour watch and oil skimming boat on patrol.