Huntington Beach Studies Curtailing Use of Pipeline

Vowing to prevent any more oil spills, the City Council on Tuesday night unanimously voted to ask the federal government to conduct a thorough “risk analysis” of the offshore pipeline where the spill occurred.

At the same time, the council directed the city attorney to study options for possibly curtailing the city’s lease of the pipeline.

The vote came at the City Council’s first regular meeting since the Feb. 7 oil spill that heavily damaged all nine miles of beaches within the city’s limits.

A U.S. Coast Guard officer told the council that cleanup operations are proceeding smoothly on the beaches and that an investigation of the accident is under way.

Coast Guard Capt. James Card said he is continuing to ban tankers such as the American Trader, which leaked nearly 400,000 gallons of oil, and other self-propelled vessels from unloading oil at the mooring less than two miles offshore. However, he said, shallow-draft barges will be allowed to unload oil into the pipeline while the investigation continues.

“The investigation is going to take a little time, and in the meantime, we’re going to allow no more operations as in the past,” he said.

Card told the council that the federal investigation is concerning itself with the history of the offshore mooring and the vessels using that pipeline.

The city has a lease with Golden West Refinery of Santa Fe Springs that allows the company to use the offshore pipelines until the year 2005. Councilwoman Grace Winchell has said that she would like the city to terminate the lease if legally possible.

While the council did not debate the pros and cons of ending the lease, it quickly adopted the motion made by Mayor Thomas J. Mays that directed the city attorney to study the legal options available. Mays’ motion also called upon the federal government to analyze, and then to report to the city, on the risks associated with continued operation of the mooring.

Concern about environmental pollution was the dominant theme at the council meeting, which also featured a public hearing on wetlands within the city that had been threatened during the oil spill.

During the part of the meeting open to public comment, some residents condemned the spill damage.

The council had previously said that costs prompted by the spill would not be paid by the city, adding that British Petroleum, owner of the spilled oil, would be charged for all expenditures connected with the accident.

Still unclear, however, is whether the city will seek additional funds from the oil company. Councilman Jim Silva said last week that he thought British Petroleum should make a contribution to help pay for replacing the city’s pier. The existing structure was heavily damaged and shut down following storms in 1988. A new pier is estimated to cost $11 million, and the city is still short about $3.5 million.

In an interview before the council meeting, Silva said, “I look at the negative publicity the city has received about its beach because of the oil spill, and I feel that it would be appropriate for British Petroleum to make a donation to the new pier.

“I’ll probably bring it up at our meeting two weeks from now,” he added.