Small oil sheen discovered off coast of Huntington Beach

An oil sheen has been spotted about two nautical miles off the coast of Huntington Beach, two months after a large oil spill, and officials Thursday were working to determine how large it may be and what was the source.

Huntington Beach police reported it was about 20 yards by 150 yards.

Orange County CEO Frank Kim said he was called Wednesday night about the incident. He directed the county’s public works department to help build a berm at Talbert Marsh Wednesday night at the city’s request.

Huntington Beach firefighters smelled “a strong petroleum scent” that indicated some kind of oil sheen near the coastline.

Oil response officials were deployed Wednesday night but did not find any evidence of oiling and decided to do an aerial view Thursday morning at first light, Kim said.

When the sheen was located, they collected a sample and are working to identify the source. There has been no shoreline impact so far.

“It’s some kind of sheen and we don’t know what it is,” Kim said.

Crews were ramping up to build berms at Talbert Marsh, Bolsa Chica and the Santa Ana River if necessary, Kim said.

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