Oil sheen contained in Talbert Channel near site of last year’s major Orange County pipeline spill

State officials have enclosed an oil shine seen Friday morning in Talbert Channel near Huntington Beach.

Crews replacing steep slab walls had noticed slight shine, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response.

“Due to the oil’s brownish milky characteristics, officials believe it may have come from an abandoned pipeline,” state officials said.

Shine was limited and crews continued to monitor the situation, officials said in a tweet Friday afternoon.

“No oil observed at Talbert Marsh; no oiled wildlife observed,” the tweet read.

Last October, after an estimated 25,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from a broken pipeline connected to an offshore platform in Orange County, oil seeped into environmentally sensitive Talbert Marsh.

Although authorities initially feared the worst as pounding waves bought up dead fish and oil-covered birds struggled to fly, a combination of luck, favorable weather and an aggressive response from officials who had learned from previous spills softened the blow.

Officials pointed to a favorable ocean current, which pulled the oil plumes south without large amounts of petroleum reaching shores.

Beaches as far south as San Diego County saw tar balls but escaped major oil floods. That was in stark contrast to the much larger American Trader oil spill in 1990, which left beaches, jetties and wetlands covered with crude oil, contaminating 15 miles of beach in Orange County.

A spokesman for the Department of Fish and Wildlife could not be reached for more information on Friday.

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