(Oct. 3, 2021) -- Cong. Alan Lowenthal (D, LB-west OC) has called for phasing out all existing offshore oil drilling operations immediately and banning future offshore oil development or production off in federal waters along California's coasts in the wake of the Huntington Beach oil leak/spill.

"Where you drill, you spill" Cong. Lowenthal said in a written statement, and "when you drill along the coast, when you pipe that oil ashore, our coastlines will bear the brunt of the impacts from such spills."

The crude oil petroleum release (current estimate 126,000 gallons) is strongly suspected by the City of Huntington Beach - but not yet federally determined -- to have come from a pipeline connecting an offshore oil rig 8.6 miles offshore southeasterly of Long Beach's Belmont Pier. Investigators are focusing on a portion of the pipeline about four miles from shore.

In a written statement, Cong. Lowenthal said:

"This oil spill off the coast of Orange County is as tragic as it was preventable. This environmental catastrophe highlights the simple fact that where you drill, you spill. As we are sadly witnessing, when you drill along the coast, when you pipe that oil ashore, our coastlines will bear the brunt of the impacts from such spills.

"This will be devastating not only to our marine wildlife and ecosystem, but also to the livelihoods of our coastal communities which are built around fishing, tourism, and recreation. As long as these platforms and pipelines remain, our coastal communities remain under threat from potential disasters like we are now seeing. I have, and continue to, fight in Congress to prevent any future drilling in federal waters along our coasts, and we must recognize the will of coastal communities that their coastlines are off limits and will not be sacrificed to the fossil fuel industry.

"There is no doubt that the cleanup of this disaster will take time, but the cost should not be brunt on the shoulders of the taxpayers--the industrial polluters must bear the cost to cleanup, rebuild destroyed habitats, loss of wildlife, and any economic loss associated with this event.

"In May, I co-sponsored the North Pacific Ocean Protection Act, and the American Coasts and Oceans Protection Act, which together would stop future drilling off of the Pacific Coast.

"We must once and for all take steps to prevent these events from happening again along our coastline. We must ensure there is no future offshore oil development or production off in federal waters California's coasts and all existing offshore operations must be phased out immediately."

At an Oct 3 afternoon news conference, officials in a multi-agency unified command said they haven't yet determined the exact location and cause of the oil leak/spill, which has created a crude oil petroleum sheen that has begun fouling Huntington Beach and Newport Beach beaches and oiling sea birds (potentially fatal to them if not swiftly cleaned.)

The Oiled Wildlife Care Network -- contact: (877) 823-6726 -- advises NOT to touch oiled or injured wildlife. Call the group and they'll know what to do.