Update: Diesel Fuel Spills Into Huntington Harbor

Personnel from several agencies worked Thursday to contain a diesel fuel spill in Huntington Harbor.

By evening most of the fuel had evaporated, said Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol Dispatcher Brian Stanley. The source of the spill was never determined, he added.

The Huntington Beach Fire Department received a report around 11 p.m. Wednesday that a slick the size of a football field had appeared in the harbor behind Peter's Landing, said department spokesman Jeff Lopez.

A Fire Department HazMat team was working with the California Department of Fish and Game overnight to contain the spill, Lopez said.

He said the U.S. Coast Guard and Orange County Sheriff's Department were supplying boats and personnel in support of the effort to stretch containment booms around the slick.

"There does not appear to be any immediate damage to property or injury to wildlife as a result of the incident," Lopez said.

The source could not immediately be determined but does not appear to be a docked boat, Lopez said.

No boats were allowed in or out of Peter's Landing Marina until late Thursday afternoon, U. S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class John Thompson told a news camera crew at the scene.

People around the marina started smelling an odor of fuel and noticing the sheen around 4 p.m. Wednesday, but the fire department was not called until around 11 p.m., Lopez said.

Spills of this nature happen a couple of times a year, said Stanley.

“It usually stays on the surface and burns off in the sunlight,” he added.

The California Department of Fish and Game helps to monitor the spill for any potential effect on wildlife in the area. This spill was not determined to have a significant impact on wildlife.