Rupture spews oil 40 feet

Jenny Marder

Crude oil and gas spewed 40 feet into the air from a ruptured well on

Wednesday morning and rained down for hours, coating 100 houses and

cars with a thin, sticky film.

The idle well erupted just before 6 a.m., spurting oil and waking

up surrounding residents with its loud, hissing spray.

“It woke me up out of a dead sleep,” said Nancy Buchoz, who lives

on Rhodesia Drive, which intersects Magnolia Street where the spill

occurred. “I got up because it smelled so bad.”

City officials said the oil posed no health or safety problems.

“The big thing is there’s no health hazard,” said Martha Werth,

spokeswoman for the Huntington Beach Fire Department. “It’s not

flammable and it’s not toxic. It’s more of an irritant.”

Still, city officials closed Magnolia Street on Wednesday morning

from Hamilton Avenue to Banning Street and urged residents to stay

inside and to keep their pets indoors until the odor had dissipated.

The city has not yet determined who owns the well itself, which

has been inactive for years. The property is owned by Cannery

Hamilton LLC.

“We still haven’t been able to identify the exact owner. The well

has changed ownership over the years,” Werth said.

The owner of the well is responsible for the cleanup.

“[Home]owners will probably have to file claims to get

reimbursed,” Werth added.

Agencies that responded to the scene included Huntington Beach

police and fire departments, the Public Works Hazardous Materials

Team, the state Division of Oil and Gas, the U.S. Coast Guard, the

California Department of Fish and Game and the Orange County Health

Agency.

The rupture was plugged up with sand, which was shoveled into the

opening to contain the oil, said Richard Kuciemba, who works with

Hazmat response.

The oil is made of sulfur compounds, said Huntington Beach Fire

Chief Duane Olson, who suggested that the spill was caused by

excessive underground pressure that released small quantities of oil.

“We estimate two barrels worth,” Olson said.

Everything on Rhodesia and the surrounding streets was swathed in

drops of oil. It spotted cars, destroyed patio furniture and coated

sidewalks, plants and lawns in a dirty brown liquid.

“I think if we scraped this car down, we might have enough to do

an oil change,” joked Ray Wilder, a car detailer called in by

Huntington Beach resident Lisa Norquist to clean her silver Chevrolet

Suburban.

Norquist has already hired someone to power-wash her house.

“This is going to end up costing a lot of money, and there better

be someone responsible for this,” she said.

Despite assurances that the air quality has not been compromised,

Norquist said she worried for herself and her children.

“I know right now I don’t feel well. My chest hurts,” Norquist

said. “My kids both have problems with asthma and allergies, and this

isn’t good for them either.”

Buchoz is also worried about her children, whose play yard is now

sticky with oil.

“You can’t tell me breathing this is good for you,” she said. “We

have methane gas to our left, oil ruptures to our right -- who’s to

say what’s to happen?”

City officials are asking residents to use soap and water to

remove residue from outdoor furniture and wash their cars. For

information, residents can call the Fire Department at (714)

374-1565.

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at [email protected].