Crews tackle what they call an oil spill

The Huntington Beach Fire Department and other agencies have been working around the clock since Friday to clean up an oil spill in a flood control channel east of Beach Boulevard.

The Fire and Public Works departments joined with the Department of Fish and Game, Coast Guard and Orange County Health Department to contain the problem after calls came in Friday morning. Martha Werth, a spokeswoman for the Fire Department, said the responders were trying to determine the substance’s origin, but were nearly sure it was crude oil.

The initial groups were later joined by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy and other city responders. Werth said the crews had set booms in the water to contain the oil so it wouldn’t drain into the Talbert Marsh.

— Michael Miller