By Matt Szabo
Excerpted from the Daily Pilot
Local elected officials took a tour of the oil-spill-affected Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach on Wednesday, as the cleanup continues.
Workers from Patriot Environmental Services, based in Wilmington, used rakes and large white bags to remove oil from the area near the rocks by the shore. The oil was then deposited in a dumpster at the marsh, located south of Brookhurst Street off Pacific Coast Highway.
“They’ve been doing a phenomenal job of cleaning up the Talbert Marsh so far,” said John Villa, executive director of the nonprofit Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy. “They have still some more to do on Talbert Marsh, then eventually they’ll be working on Brookhurst Marsh and Magnolia Marsh.”
Villa said 127 acres in total have been affected, but the water quality has seen a steady improvement over the last two days.
Villa led a tour Wednesday for elected officials including state Senators Dave Min and Tom Umberg, Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley and Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr.