According to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement database, which regulates the offshore oil and natural gas industry, Beta Operating Co. was cited 125 times in total since 1980. The online database does not provide details about each incident, but only the total number.
For three separate incidents, the company was fined $85,000. Two of the three incidents were in 2014. One was when a worker was not wearing protective equipment and was shocked with 98,000V electricity. Another was when crude oil was released from a boom that had been improperly bypassed.
Beta, a subsidiary Houston-based Amplify Energy is being investigated after 126,000 gallons (572.807 liters), of heavy crude oil were accidentally leaked from an underwater pipeline. This allegedly polluted the waters of the ocean, causing damage to Huntington Beach and other coastal communities. The spillage could cause beaches to be closed for several weeks or even longer.
Environmentalists feared that the oil could cause havoc with marine life and birds in the region. Michael Ziccardi is a veterinarian and director for the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. He said that only four oily birds have been discovered so far. He said that one of the birds had suffered from chronic injuries and had been forced to be put down.
He said Monday at a news conference, “It’s much more than we had feared.”
Ziccardi stated that he is “cautiously optimistic” but it’s too early to determine the impact of the spillage on wildlife. He said that the greatest number of oiled birds in other offshore oil spillages have been found between two and five days following the incident.
Amplify has three oil platforms located 9 miles (14.5 km) off the coast California. They were all built between 1980-84. Amplify also owns a 16-inch pipeline, which transports oil from the processing platform to Long Beach’s onshore storage facility. According to the company, the oil is likely coming from a ruptured pipeline located approximately 4 miles (6.44 km) from the platform.
Amplify had high hopes about the Beta oilfield before the accident and was investing millions in upgrades and new “sidetrack” projects to tap into the oil laterally.
Martyn Willsher, CEO Amplify, stated that there is the possibility to continue for as long or as you want during an August conference call with investors. He said that there was enough capacity to produce “up to 22,000 barrels per day.”
Willsher’s optimism was shared by investors, who sent the stock more than sevenfold to $5.75 at Friday’s close. In morning trading Monday, the stock fell more than 40%.
In 2017, the company filed for bankruptcy and was able to emerge a few months later. The company had used cash from the Beta field, as well as other Oklahoma and Texas residents, to pay $235 million of its debt.
Some residents, business owners, and environmentalists were skeptical that authorities responded quickly enough to contain the leak. Residents and workers in the region reported that they smelled heavy petroleum odors and noticed oily residues Friday evening.
Booms were placed on the ocean’s surface Sunday in an attempt to contain the oil, while divers attempted to find the source of the leakage. There was also a race on land to locate any animals that were harmed by oil, and to prevent the oil from contaminating other marshland.
The Coast Guard did not announce that an oil slick was found and that a unified command had been established to respond. The company was able to close the pipeline only after midnight on Saturday night.
Blue Star Yacht Charter owner Rick Torgerson stated that on Friday evening, “people were sending emails and the neighbors were asking, ‘Do you smell it?’” On Saturday morning, boats returned to the marina with their hulls oiled.
