Article Summary

According to documents reviewed by The Times, regulators scrutinizing plans for an oil pipeline off the Orange County Coast in 1978 downplayed the potential damage in the event of a ship anchor strike. They predicted that the resulting leak would spill only 50 barrels of oil. This month it is believed that a ship waiting off the Orange County coast dropped its anchor, hit the pipeline, and has caused at least 126,000 gallons of crude oil to leak into the ocean. 

Regulators scrutinizing plans for an oil pipeline off the Orange County coast in the 1970s examined the potential damage in the event of a ship anchor strike but downplayed the risks, concluding that a resulting spill would be minor, according to documents reviewed by The Times.

In 1978, regulators predicted that a leak would result in a spill of only 50 barrels of oil. That’s less than a tenth of the minimum amount of oil that leaked in waters off the Orange County coast this month in an accident investigators believe was caused when a cargo ship waiting to enter the port dropped its anchor and hit the pipeline. This underestimate caused a missed opportunity that might’ve prompted additional safeguards and prevented a major oil spill. 

Initially, the buried part of the line was to be 4 feet under the seabed. In some prior rupture cases, anchor strikes were strongly suspected but investigators were unable to confirm the cause.

Officials say the anchor likely snagged the pipeline at a point shortly after it starts its run on top of the seabed, weakening its structure and eventually causing a gash that spilled at least 588 barrels of oil. At this time, the ship that potentially snagged the pipeline is not known, but it is being looked into by investigators. 

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