HUNTINGTON BEACH : 10 Gallons of Oil Spill Near Platform

About 10 gallons of oil spilled near offshore oil platform Emmy late Thursday afternoon, but it was quickly contained by booms around the platform and poses no immediate threat to city beaches, Coast Guard officials said.

Details of the accident were not immediately available. Coast Guard officials had not determined if the spill came from the platform, owned by Shell Oil.

“It was crude, but we don’t know from where yet,” Coast Guard Lt. Jim Pearson said. “All we know is it’s near the platform.”

Huntington Beach Mayor Thomas J. Mays said Shell officials promptly notified the city Fire Department of the oil.

“It looks like the situation is under control,” Mays said. “This is just a small spill, and they have booms all around it.” A commercial oil-removing firm, Clean Coastal Waters, dispatched a boat from Long Beach to scoop up the floating oil.

Mays said the incident Thursday adds to his concern about the safety of the two offshore oil platforms that face city beaches. He noted that in June about 180 gallons of oil washed ashore, staining parts of Bolsa Chica State Beach, immediately north of the city. The source of that oil spill has not been determined officially.

The city has been wary of oil at sea since the Feb. 7 rupture of the tanker American Trader caused almost 400,000 gallons to spill into the ocean about 1.3 miles off Huntington Beach.