orange county and u.s. federal officials updated on the latest developments in the spill, saying 144,000 gallons, or about 545,000 liters, had leaked. on the same day, the california government declared a state of emergency in orange county to mobilize more resources to clean up the affected areas.
in this accident, the united states departments of slow response and negative treatment caused local residents dissatisfaction, orange county attorney general said to thoroughly investigate the whole incident, to hold the perpetrators accountable.
as the oil spill continues to fester, there is growing evidence of serious negligence on the part of the authorities in the early stages of the accident.
according to u.s. media reports, the california governor’s office of emergency services received information about the oil spill at around 6 p.m. local time, however, authorities withheld the information for nearly 24 hours before it was made public to the public. this led to a serious threat to the lives and health of thousands of tourists visiting polluted beaches the next day.
orange county resident: i didn’t know at the time, and i came here to surf, and then came ashore to find my hands full of oil.
orange county residents: it’s so smelly, it’s like death.
while the oil spill has caused serious damage to local residents and wildlife, the parties responsible for the accident are trying to distance thems themsself from the relationship. earlier, the head of the oil company involved in the leak had said that the accident was “most likely caused by a nearby ship dropping anchors and breaking pipes”, a comment that immediately caused a public outcry. the orange county attorney general said the company’s statement was “completely untrustworthy” and that an independent investigation into the incident should be launched and the oil company should be barred from participating. experts also said that the oil spill caused by the “more credible reason” is: the aging of the relevant oil transmission facilities.
“there are twenty or thirty operating oil platforms off the coast of california, many of which were built in the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s, and these facilities are old and beyond their design life,” said meynka hanshin, director of the marine division at the center for biological diversity. these facilities are “time bombs” and sooner or later similar accidents will occur.
