The Huntington Beach Oil Spill: Causes, Cleanup, and Impacts

October 10, 2021

A series discussion about the current Southern CA Oil spill.

On this episode, Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham talk to Dr. Karen Martin about the response and potential impacts of the Huntington Oil Spill that occurred off the coast of Southern California on October 1, 2021. So far, it seems that a  a 17.7-mile oil pipeline connecting offshore oil Platform Elly with the shore had been possibly dragged by a ship's anchor resulting in an estimated 3,100 barrels of oil being spilled. Dr. Martin, a marine biology professor at Pepperdine University, has experience working in the aftermath of the 2015 Rufigio Oil Spill, which occurred just up the coast and was approximately the same size, with 2,500 barrels of oil being spilled. Discussed are the causes of oil spills, what happens to oil when it enters coastal environments, cleanup methods, and the long term impacts of oil in the environment.

Show Transcription
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Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.