Excerpted from the Orange County Register
By Alicia Robinson
While it’s still unclear whether all laws and regulations were followed in the pipeline breach that leaked about 25,000 gallons of oil onto Orange County’s beaches last month, state officials say there’s plenty of room to tighten up existing rules to better prevent and detect future spills.
A streamlined way of notifying coastal communities about hazmat spills, public input on oil companies’ required response plans, more resources to allow local agencies to respond, and a fresh look at what technology is available to detect leaks and spills were among the suggestions made at a Monday hearing on the recent spill off Huntington Beach.
Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris – who chairs the special state committee that met Monday at the Coast Community College District offices in Costa Mesa – said the hearing would be the first of several that she hopes will result in faster and more effective spill prevention and response procedures.
“We will get to the bottom of this. We will ensure that a travesty like this does not occur again on our watch,” Petrie-Norris said.