Oil Leak Harms Plants, Wildlife in Chino Hills Park

A 1,000-gallon oil spill has coated more than two miles of a creek flowing through Chino Hills State Park and into the Santa Ana River, harming plants and wildlife along the way, park officials said Friday.

Park officials said the spill was brought to their attention by a park visitor on Sunday, a week after a line ruptured at an oil well near the southeastern boundary of the 12,000-acre recreational area. In turn, they said, they notified the state Department of Fish and Game.

“We are very concerned about it,” said David Vincent, district superintendent for the state Department of Parks and Recreation. “We have a beautiful canyon that comes through that part of the park called Aliso Canyon.”

Vincent said although cleanup began immediately after the parks department learned of the leak, rains last weekend pushed the oil downstream, and Thursday night the water breached two makeshift dams, allowing some of the oil to spread into the Santa Ana River near Green River Golf Course.

A portion of the park between the golf course and the southern part of the Lower Aliso Canyon campground has been closed to the public, park officials said.

Ranger Andre Ramos said the spill has “done a lot of damage to the wildlife and plants.” So far, he said, two dead wood rats and some dead fish and insects have been spotted in the oil.

He added that parks officials suspect that the spill killed many more animals which were washed into the Santa Ana River by the rains.

“Anything living is going to be harmed by the oil spill,” said Robert Goodman, a herpetologist and graduate student at Cal Poly Pomona. “Pacific tree frog, Western toad, arroyo chub are all species that live in the park, and are going to be directly affected by the oil spill.”