“Reports from trained oil observers and beach cleanup contractors working for the Unified Command show significant progress in cleanup operations,” the Unified Command said in a statement on Friday.
More than 1,800 personnel from across the United States and 116 local volunteers assisted in spill response efforts at the height of cleanup operations, the Unified Command said. They added that they are cognizant of the environmental impact of response efforts and continuously assessing their footprint.
A worker is reflected in the water of an estuary after a major oil spill off the coast of California came ashore in Huntington Beach, California, U.S., October 4, 2021.
© REUTERS / MIKE BLAKE
Ronald Tjeerdema, professor with the University of California at Davis, told Sputnik that it will likely take a year or two for the local flora and fauna to fully recover from the oil spill. He said that although there will be short-term impacts to plankton, fish, birds and mammals in the local ecosystem, long term consequences will probably be “minimal.”
The Unified Command said that there has been no free-floating oil observed since October 5, and that on-water oil-recovery operations have ceased. All public beaches in Orange County and San Diego County have also been reopened.