Goleta Beach Clean Again After Oil Sheen Concern

A sheen of oil, considered by local residents and fishermen as “larger than normal” has now disappeared off the Goleta coastline. Wednesday however, it was a concern that drew national attention and talk that it could be linked to a failing oil facility.

None of that was proven.

Even the source of the oil has not been officially determined by the U.S. Coast Guard after a flyover with an expert on board. The size was determined to be three miles long.

A large quantity was seen in an areas where natural seeps have been detected for centuries. It was also near Platform Holly, owned by Venoco. The company says the rig had no incidents. Holly has been shut down since May when the Plains All American pipeline nearby broke open, creating a local disaster.

With the shifting tides and seasonal winds, the ocean broke up the latest oil sheen.

Weather conditions may also have brought it closer to the shore Wednesday.

Kids were playing on the beach and kayakers were back in the same area where, 24 hours earlier, their small vessels were covered with a line of oil.

At the UC Santa Barbara Family Vacation Center Camp, Cami Kwan said the oily tar balls on the beach in some areas were not a problem and their group was not only on the beach but in the surf.

“The kids don’t really think about it. If they knew it was there they would probably try to step on it on purpose so we don’t even bring it up. For the parents, we tell them their kids will probably come home a little more dirty than normal but nothing to worry about,” said Kwan. She said children from the nearby campus camp are on that beach regularly.

A visiting physics researcher, walking on the beach barefoot, showed the bottom of his feet and he had very little evidence of any oil. Faik Bouhrik said, “the truth is the beach is not really clean, (he watched for ) a piece of glass or something. It is good to keep an eye out.”

Fisherman Ryan Howell came in on a kayak and said the fishing was poor, but he also said, ” no tar around or anything like that , no oil slicks or anything out there.” He said he was aware of the oil issue but , “they said it was only 30 percent of the water, something like that.” Howell was with other kayakers who called it a day early when the catch just wasn’t what he expected.

Goleta Beach is one of the most visited locations in the city with over a million visitors a year.

Wednesday Santa Barbara County Supervisor Janet Wolf personally came to the scene when the reports came out about an oil issue. She met with the command staff and reviewed pictures.

The U.S. Coast Guard did a morning fly over and did not have any serious issues to report. The response team will continue to monitor the conditions, and test any oil they need to trace.

Many local residents said the tar on the beach was more than in recent months, but they said it was similar to a natural seep not an industrial or marine vessel spill.

UC Santa Barbara microbial geochemistry professor, David Valentine said the distribution, density and consistency were, “well within the bounds of what we observe from natural seeps.”

No environmental damage in the form of injured or dead sea birds or marine mammals was detected.