Los Angeles:
A fractured pipeline spewing crude oil off the coast of California could have been leaking for a year, US investigators stated Friday.
Tens of thousands of gallons of oil are feared to have leeched into waters that are home to whales, dolphins and otters given that a leak was found last weekend.
Stretches of prime surfing coastline have been shuttered as clean-up crews raced to avert the spoiling of beaches and rescue animals caught up in the slick.
US news outlets reported that a ship’s anchor could have been accountable for dragging the pipeline along the seabed and splitting it open.
But Coast Guard officials investigating the incident stated Friday the rupture could not be new, and could have occurred as lengthy as a year ago.
Captain Jason Neubauer stated several ships’ anchors might have contributed to the displacement of the pipe, and it was not initially clear when the leak started.
Martyn Willsher, the chief executive of pipeline operator Amplify Energy, stated this week that underwater observations revealed that 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) of the pipeline was not exactly where it ought to be.
“The pipeline has essentially been pulled like a bowstring,” he told a press conference on Tuesday.
“At its widest point it is 105 feet away from where it was,” he stated, adding the break was at the apex of this bend.
Willsher refused to speculate on the trigger of that displacement and whether or not a ship’s anchor could be accountable, but stated: “It is a 16-inch steel pipeline that’s a half inch thick and covered in an inch of concrete.
“For it to be moved 105 feet is not widespread.”
(This story has not been edited by TheSpuzz employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)