California spill not the environmental disaster first feared

By AMY TAXIN
Associated Press

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — After a crude oil sheen was detected on the waters off the Southern California coast, environmentalists feared the worst. A week later, Orange County and its signature beaches have been spared a potentially calamitous fate, though the long-term toll on plant and animal life remains unknown. The Coast Guard estimates a minimum of about 25,000 gallons and no more than 132,000 gallons spilled from a ruptured pipeline off Huntington Beach. Environmentalists fear the long-term effect on wetlands and ocean life. Crude oil components can linger beneath the ocean surface and affect tiny organisms that are ingested by fish, which are later eaten by birds, marine mammals and people.