County, 3 Cities Given Funds to Plan for Future Oil Spills

Orange County and three of its cities have received a total of about $200,000 from the state to plan against future oil spills on the coast.

The joint plan, when completed by next spring, will be a response guide for all 42 miles of Orange County coast in case of an oil spill like the one that hit Huntington Beach and Newport Beach in February, 1990.

Among other things, the new guidelines will include a plan for disposing of crude oil and other hazardous wastes that wash ashore.

“We hope we never have to use this plan, but at the same time it is good to have something in place as a precaution,” said Fausto Reyes, manager of the Orange County Emergency Management Division. That division is in charge of coordinating the multigovernment oil spill plan.

The state grant is given jointly to Orange County government and to the cities of Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and San Clemente.

The money comes from a new state law, called the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act, passed shortly after the 1990 oil spill disaster in Orange County. The law makes funds available to all California coastal cities and counties for “developing integrated oil spill contingency plans.”

Reyes said the cities “could have gone out independently and asked for the money, but by going this way, we are unified and working together.”

While only three cities joined in the application with the county for a grant, all cities and unincorporated communities on the coast will be involved in the oil spill plan, Reyes said.

“This plan will cover all of the coast,” including Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Laguna Beach and Dana Point, he said.

The plan will include a report on the current condition of offshore waters, estuaries, beaches and sensitive wetland areas, such as Bolsa Chica.

“This documentation is to be of such detail as to be usable as a benchmark against which to measure and identify the resulting environmental and ecological damage a future oil spill may have on the county’s coastal waters,” according to the written proposal given to the state.

One problem that faced Newport Beach and Huntington Beach after the 1990 oil spill was proving environmental damage in making claims against the oil company.

Reyes said a coastal “benchmark” document will be of great use in showing the condition of the environment before any disasters.

The county plans to hire a marine biologist to help plan. “We’ll send out (bid requests) for a marine biologist, and we’re hoping we can get someone local who knows a lot about the coast in Orange County,” Reyes said.