Report Lowers Estimate on Recovered Oil

Estimates that British Petroleum recovered about 34% of the oil spilled off Huntington Beach in February may have been significantly overstated, according to a state report to be released today.

The report, prepared for the State Lands Commission by a Norway firm, says that the actual amount of oil recovered was about 21% of the 9,500 barrels, or 399,000 gallons, of crude that spilled off the Orange County coast from the ill-fated American Trader tanker on Feb. 7.

And those new, lower estimates of the oil collected by the recovery efforts could increase the potential fine levied against the company by about $1.3 million, said state Controller Gray Davis, who chairs the State Lands Commission.

The company and state officials are negotiating a fine for the Huntington Beach spill. The formula to figure the penalty includes an $840 credit for every barrel the company successfully skimmed from the ocean surface, he said.

Using a 37% recovery rate, British Petroleum would be looking at a possible fine of $5 million, said Davis.

But the new report says that the company counted a good deal of emulsified water in the original recovery rate and that the actual amount skimmed off the ocean was 1,994 barrels of oil, or 21% of what was spilled.

Using the more conservative 21% figure would increase the company’s potential fine to around $6.3 million, Davis said.

“There’s no question that British Petroleum acted in a responsible manner, and there’s no question that its attempts to mobilize the industry and call on the Coast Guard contributed to an orderly effort,” Davis said late Monday.

“However, the cleanup effort was not nearly as successful as first indicated by British Petroleum, and my point is you can never clean up but a small fraction of the oil,” he said.

The report by Oceanor, a consulting firm in Trondheim, Norway, is a review of how industry, government and private response teams performed in the days following the February mishap when, at low tide, the 811-foot American Trader sat on its own anchor and began oozing crude oil at the Huntington Beach marine terminal, about 1.3 miles southwest of the shore.

The report says the number of ships and skimmer systems that responded to the spill was “impressive,” and it noted the success and efficiency of maneuvers to protect environmentally sensitive areas such as the Bolsa Chica wetlands, as well as clean up oily beaches elsewhere.

But the Scandinavian consultant warned that the showing was still not enough.

“In our opinion, the present response equipment is not sufficient for the type of spills to be expected from tanker operations at these terminals,” the report says.

As a preventive measure, the report suggests prohibiting tankers the size of the American Trader from using the Huntington Beach terminal.

The report also recommends installing an automatic system for more precisely monitoring the water depth at the Huntington Beach mooring.

Those recommendations have already been anticipated in part by new Coast Guard restrictions instituted at the Huntington Beach mooring in April.

A spokesman for British Petroleum, with offices in Cleveland, could not be reached for comment.