(CNN)A stretch of Southern California's coast has been transformed by a leak at an oil pipe that released more than 100,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean.
At Huntington Beach, which welcomes tourists with a sign reading "Surf City USA," had a new sign up on Monday that read, "Beach open, Ocean and Shore closed." On one beach section, workers in hazmat suits and rakes cleaned up tar balls from the spill, while beach-goers and their dogs ran between them.
And a little farther south, teams in white hazmat suits worked to protect the fragile wetland ecosystem near the mouth of the Santa Ana River -- a crucial habitat for migratory birds that is now wrapped in shimmering oil ribbons.
On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency due to the spill. "The state is moving to cut red tape and mobilize all available resources to protect public health and the environment," he said in a statement.
The breach, widely reported Saturday, occurred about five miles off Huntington Beach in Orange County, spilling as much as 144,000 gallons of crude, according to an updated estimate from the city of Huntington Beach.
Photos: Oil spill in Southern California
Workers with Patriot Environmental Services clean up some of the oil that flowed into the Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach, California.
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A boom is used to contain the oil spill in Talbert Marsh.
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A staff member of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife examines a sanderling that was affected by the oil in Huntington Beach.
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Beachgoers walk along the coast of Huntington Beach on Monday, October 4.
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A member of a cleanup crew rakes up some of the oil that washed ashore on Huntington Beach.
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Boats are seen off the coast of Huntington Beach on October 4.
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A fish is found dead in Huntington Beach.
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This aerial photo, taken on October 4, shows environmental response crews cleaning up oil that flowed near the Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach.
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A beachgoer sits in front of a warning sign in Huntington Beach on October 4.
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Oil residue mixed with sand covers part of the Bolsa Chica State Beach on October 4.
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Excavators dredge sand to block some of the oil from flowing into Huntington Beach on Sunday, October 3.
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This aerial photo shows oil that has washed ashore in Huntington Beach.
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Oil-absorbent booms are being used by workers to clean up oil that flowed into the Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach.
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Lifeguards post warning signs in Huntington Beach.
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Fish swim in oil-contaminated waters off the coast of Huntington Beach.
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Waves bring oil ashore in Huntington Beach.
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A bird balances on a boom that was set up to contain oil in Huntington Beach.
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This aerial picture, taken on October 3, shows oil in the Talbert Marsh area.
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A helicopter flies over bystanders in Huntington Beach. The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is assisting in the Coast Guard-led response to the oil spill, the agency told CNN.
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Globs of oil are seen on the border of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach on October 3.
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Workers try to clean up floating oil in the Talbert Marsh area.
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Heavy equipment is used to block oil from reaching the Talbert Marsh area.
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A Huntington Beach lifeguard points to the oil-soaked sand as he tells Melissa Panozzo to get out of the water on October 3. Panozzo hadn't heard the beaches had been closed, she said.
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Oil gathers on an absorption boom in Huntington Beach.
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Oil-skimming boats work the waters off the coast of Huntington Beach on October 3.
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Oil piles up as it is blocked by a boom on October 3.
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Local residents look for signs of damage in Huntington Beach.
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A ball floats in oil that had washed ashore on October 3.
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The cause of the spill isn't yet clear, though authorities are examining whether a ship's anchor could have caused the leak. Meanwhile, there are open questions as to the timeline of when the pipeline company and authorities learned about the spill and what they did in response.
California authorities were notified late Friday of reports of an oil sheen at the site of the pipeline spill, more than 12 hours before Amplify Energy Corp., the operator of the line, reported it to state and federal officials, according to documents reviewed by CNN.
But in a news conference Monday, Amplify CEO Martyn Willsher said a sheen was detected by company personnel Saturday morning, not Friday night. Willsher said while there is equipment to detect the leak without visibly seeing oil spills, there were no notices of a potential leak in the line before Saturday.
The timing is important because of how many people were potentially impacted by the spill on Saturday, said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley.
"There were hundreds of boaters out on the Huntington Beach coast because we had an air show," Foley said. "There were hundreds of boaters coming back and forth from Catalina to Orange County."
The spill, which stretches from Huntington Beach to Laguna Beach, is likely to move farther south based on wind and currents, said Capt. Rebecca Ore, the Commanding Officer at US Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach.
The spill is just the latest such incident to hit California's shores, including the 1969 spill of as much as 4.2 million gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara. Locally, Huntington Beach bore the brunt of a 1990 spill of about 417,000 gallons of crude oil when an oil tanker ran over its anchor and punctured its hull.
The current spill's volume pales in comparison to the most serious oil spills in history, including the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska (11 million gallons) and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico (134 million gallons).
Spill clean-up is underway
Patriot Environmental employees work to clear oil from the surface of the water inside Talbert Marsh in California on Monday, October 4.
Response efforts to the spill have doubled since Sunday afternoon, Capt. Ore said Monday. As of midday Monday, about 4,158 gallons of oil has been recovered from the water and 8,700 feet of boom -- a term for floating barriers designed to contain an oil spill -- has been deployed.
Dead birds and fish have already washed ashore, according to Foley, who has been providing updates on Twitter.
"This has devastated our California coastline in Orange County, and it's having a tremendous impact on our ecological preserves as well as our economics," Foley told CNN. "We need answers and the public deserves answers."
Michael Ziccardi, Director of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), said Monday he had "grave concerns" about the impact of the spill on local wildlife but noted early reports weren't as bad as feared.
"At this point, we are cautiously optimistic related to the number of animals that might be affected at this point," said Ziccardi.
Eight birds have been recovered from the oil spill, according to OWCN, including a brown pelican that was euthanized because of a wing injury.
For some, this latest incident is a sign of a need for change to protect the environment.
"As California continues to lead the nation in phasing out fossil fuels and combating the climate crisis, this incident serves as a reminder of the enormous cost fossil fuels have on our communities," Newsom said Monday. "Destructive offshore drilling practices sacrifice our public health, the economy, and our environment."
Investigation into the cause
The recently cleaned beach in the affected area of the oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach on Monday.
Willsher, the Amplify executive, said Monday the company had isolated a specific spot along the pipeline that may be responsible.
"We are still assessing to look for the source and figure out," Eric Laughlin, California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson, said Sunday at a news conference. "It doesn't appear there's further fuel leaking, but we're still working on identifying that."
Amplify is a small, Houston-based company with 222 employees as of the end of 2018, the last time it reported its staff size in a company filing. Its most recent financial report shows sales of $153 million, with year-to-date losses of $54.4 million through the end of June.
Authorities are examining whether a ship's anchor could have caused the oil spill, said Capt. Ore.
"These ships are anchored and many are awaiting entry into the San Pedro Bay Port complex -- the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach -- and in the course of transit it is possible that they would transit over a pipeline," Ore said Monday.
The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement was assisting in Coast Guard-led response to the oil spill, the agency told CNN. Its role was to assist "in identifying the location and source of any spills and provide technical assistance to the Unified Command in stopping the spillage," it said Sunday in a statement.
The National Transportation Safety Board was sending investigators to gather information and assess the source of the oil leak, it said Sunday on Twitter.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified where Amplify's CEO made his remarks on when the oil sheen was detected. It was during a news conference.
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