The Ocean as a Friend and a Sacred Trust : Oil, Sewage Spills Have Increased Ecological Awareness About Our Treasured Coast

On a warm winter day, standing on the sands of Huntington Beach and watching the waves roll in, it requires effort to remember the terrible days of the oil spill five years ago. But the beaches of Orange County are cleaner now, and the awareness of the fragility of this valuable resource has been heightened by the aftermath of that spill.

This month, five years to the day after the tanker American Trader ran over its anchor while trying to moor off Huntington Beach and sent 400,000 gallons of crude into the water, the bulk of lawsuits were settled.

The settlements require BP America, the company that owned the oil and chartered the tanker, and a petroleum industry fund to pay more than $9 million to compensate government agencies and private businesses for the losses they suffered due to the spill. The payment is in addition to the $12 million that BP America spent soon after the spill to repair the damage and pay some of the fishermen, motel owners and others who lost money because of the accident.

The money will go for a number of good causes, including restoring and creating habitat where brown pelicans and other birds can flourish. A fish hatchery program in Carlsbad will receive money, too, as will projects to lessen ocean and coastal pollution.

The oil spill prompted welcome ecological awareness that continues. Throughout the year volunteers clean Orange County lagoons and beaches of debris. The state Legislature has approved creation of full-time teams of oil-spill wardens and biologists. Congress has required all new oil tankers to be double-hulled.

But as the virtually annual sewage spills from pipes damaged by heavy rains indicate, greater efforts are required. Without the ocean, this could just as well be Arizona. The beaches are one of the treasures of Orange County. They need protection and continued vigilance.