O.C. beaches, Newport Harbor reopen, with caveats, after weeklong closures

Local beaches reopened Friday after days of partial — or in some cities, full — closures after the Orange County oil spill that officials are now estimating is anywhere between 24,696 to 131,000 gallons.

On Friday, beach access was restored to Laguna Beach, where beaches have been closed since Monday as a precautionary measure against the weekend spill. This does not include the waters, which county health officials are warning residents and visitors to avoid until clean up is completed.

“I am very pleased that our city team has come up with a plan to open the sand so that our residents and visitors can walk and relax on our beautiful beaches,” Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen said in the statement announcing the reopenings.

“The Coast Guard advises that we must keep the water closed for health reasons until the water quality can be fully analyzed. I ask everyone to cooperate with this restriction and stay out of the water,” said Whalen. “We will be working with state and federal officials to open the water as soon as it is safe.”

Access to Newport Beach and parts of Huntington Beach’s beaches are similarly limited to the shoreline only.

Newport Beach also announced the reopening of Newport Harbor to boat traffic. The booms safeguarding the harbor were removed Friday afternoon, according to city officials.

Cities are also continuing to strongly advise well-intentioned residents who are not part of state-run volunteer efforts to avoid staging beach clean-ups or from interacting with any oiled wildlife.

The cause of the spill is still under investigation.

In a statement released by the Orange County Health Care Agency Friday, the agency is coordinating with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a contracted environmental consulting firm to conduct air monitoring. Early results currently indicate that said samples are at or below California health standards, which county health officer and agency director Dr. Clayton Chau said is encouraging.

“As the oil response teams continue to monitor, inspect, and clean the beaches to ensure that appropriate cleanup actions are taken, and in advance of water analysis from the Unified Command, our original health advisory continues to remain in place,” said Chau.

“We ask that our residents and visitors continue to avoid the ocean water and oiled areas of our beaches to limit the risk of contaminants being absorbed through the skin, inhalation, and ingestion until further notice,” he said. “This means refraining from recreational activities on the coastline such as swimming, surfing, biking, walking, exercising, fishing and gathering.”

Andrew Turner contributed to this report.

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