Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
The amount of crude oil spilled in an offshore pipeline leak in Southern California is believed to be close to 25,000 gallons, or only about one-fifth of what officials initially feared, a Coast Guard official said Thursday.
The leak off the coast of Orange County was previously estimated to be at least 25,000 gallons (94,635 liters) and no more than 132,000 gallons (499,674 liters). The final count for the spill will likely be closer to the lower figure, which correlates with the amount of oiling seen on the California shore, Coast Guard Capt. Rebecca Ore said.
"We have a high degree of confidence that the spill amount is approximately 588 barrels," she told reporters in Newport Beach. "That number may potentially adjust a small degree."
The spill off Huntington Beach was confirmed Oct. 2, a day after residents reported a petroleum smell in the area.
Coast Guard officials said it came from a leak in a pipeline owned by Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp. that shuttles crude from offshore platforms to the coast. Officials said the cause of the leak remains under investigation, but the pipeline was likely damaged by a ship's anchor several months to a year before it ruptured.
The shorelines in Huntington Beach, which is known as "Surf City USA," and neighboring Newport Beach were shut down until Monday. Coastal shops have taken a hit, and environmental advocates have voiced concerns about the long-term impact of the spill on sensitive wetland areas and wildlife.
More than four dozen animals, mostly birds and fish, have been found dead since the spill, though not all were visibly oiled, according to the Oiled Wildlife Care Network.
A stranded dolphin in distress was found late Wednesday in nearby Los Angeles County and euthanized, said Eric Laughlin, a state Fish and Wildlife spokesman. The cause of death has yet to be determined, and it's unknown if the animal was affected by the spill, he said.
Since the spill, fishing has been barred off the coast of Orange County. State officials are taking samples of fish to assess whether they have been affected by the oil before allowing fishing to resume.
Workers in protective gear continue to comb the sand for tar balls washing ashore along more than 70 miles (113 kilometers) of coastline in Orange and San Diego counties. Roy Kim, an environmental scientist with California's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, said the size of tar balls being collected on beaches has diminished from the early days after the spill.
"They were seeing huge patties of oil in the beginning," Kim said, adding that the oil slick has largely been broken up into tar balls by the tides and winds. "Now you're just kind of seeing the smaller stuff."
Crews are also working to remove oil from rocky coastal habitat while being careful not to damage it, he said.
Oil is naturally present off the coast of Southern California, and residents are used to seeing tar on beaches, California Fish and Wildlife Lt. Christian Corbo said. Tar samples collected in the cleanup will be sent to a state petroleum chemistry lab to determine whether they are from the spill, he said.
In the coming days, workers will likely start assessing beach conditions in specific areas to determine whether the cleanup is complete, Ore said.
While it's still possible tar balls will wash up from the spill after that point -- and officials will continue to respond to reports that come in -- "at some point, and we're evaluating this right now, we reach a point where we recommend no further treatment on segments of the beach," she said.
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
A first-of-its-kind Canadian research study is working towards a major medical breakthrough for a brain disorder, believed to be caused by repeated head injuries, that can only be detected after death.
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.