Officials Still Want Mooring Closed : Oil spill: Huntington Beach officials are not satisfied with the U.S. Coast Guard’s vow to closely monitor tankers.

Despite the U.S. Coast Guard’s promise to closely monitor tankers that use a marine terminal where 394,000 gallons of oil was spilled, Huntington Beach officials say they will not be satisfied until the offshore facility is permanently closed.

Tanker deliveries at the mooring resumed Saturday, but Huntington Beach Mayor Thomas J. Mays said a Coast Guard decision to escort ships into the mooring and position personnel on the bridge of those vessels is not enough to ease concern about a repeat of the Feb. 7 spill from the tanker American Trader.

The 811-foot tanker was attempting to moor at the facility about 1.3 miles southwest of the city when it punctured its hull with its own anchor. The Alaskan crude that escaped into the sea eventually forced the closure of 20 miles of shoreline.

“I really feel from a safety standpoint and from an environmental standpoint that our city--in fact the whole Orange (County) coast--would be better off if this mooring lease were ended,” said Mays, adding that it is safer to unload tankers in port than at sea.

In a unanimous action on Monday night, the seven-member Huntington Beach City Council agreed to write to the State Lands Commission, urging it to terminate the lease with Golden West Refining for the offshore mooring. Golden West uses the mooring to receive crude oil from tankers.

The first tanker to use the mooring since the spill was guided by several Coast Guard vessels into the marine terminal at high tide on Saturday. Two Coast Guard officers were also on board the tanker Aspen throughout the docking and unloading operation.

Coast Guard Capt. James C. Card said the safety measures will continue “indefinitely.” He said the mooring operation involving the Aspen “went smoothly . . . but we are taking nothing for granted. We will continue to have a very visible presence when tankers use the facility.”

The Aspen was the same size as the American Trader, but it was carrying less oil so its draft was only 31 feet. The American Trader had a 43.6-foot draft.

Recent surveys of the ocean bottom showed that shallowest water depth in the mooring area is 47 feet, which means the American Trader had only a four-foot clearance as it moved into the marine terminal at low tide.

Card said only tankers with a “substantial margin for safety” will be allowed to use the mooring. The tide, amount of oil aboard and the size of the tanker will all be considered before a ship is given clearance to use the facility.

A report on the Coast Guard’s investigation into the cause of the Huntington Beach oil spill may be completed by next week and forwarded to Coast Guard Cmdr. Paul Yost for final review and release.

Meanwhile, Charles Warren, executive director of the State Lands Commission, said he could not comment on the City Council’s request to close the mooring until the commission formally receives the request. But noting that a long-term, legal lease is involved, Warren said that any consideration of canceling it “would require careful scrutiny.”