VOA慢速英语2021--加州石油泄漏危及沿海野生动物

California Oil Spill Endangers Coastal¹ Wildlife

A large oil spill off the southern California coast left fish dead, birds covered in oil and wetlands polluted.

The spill is one of the largest in the recent history of California. It is suspected to have been caused by an underwater pipeline². Kim Carr is the mayor of Huntington Beach near where the spill took place. She said an estimated 573,000 liters of unprocessed, crude oil leaked into the Pacific Ocean. Some appeared on the California coast about 65 kilometers south of Los Angeles.

Carr called the spill an "environmental catastrophe³." She added, "This oil spill constitutes one of the most devastating⁴ situations that our community has dealt with" in many years.

Officials said the popular beaches of Huntington and Laguna could be closed for weeks or months.

Questions about slow response

Residents, business owners and environmentalists have questioned whether officials reacted quickly enough to contain the spill.

People who live and work in the area said they saw the shine on the water and the smell of oil Friday evening. But the U.S. Coast Guard did not announce that oil had been seen until Saturday afternoon. It said it was leading a clean-up operation. The company that operates the pipeline believed to be responsible for the spill shut it down on Saturday night.

Rick Torgerson is the owner of Blue Star Yacht Charter, a company that operates boats in the area. He said on Friday evening "people were emailing, and the neighbors were asking, ‘Do you smell that?'" He said boats were returning with oil on them.

Garry Brown is president of the environmental group Orange County Coastkeeper. Brown lives in Huntington Beach. He said, "By the time it comes to the beach, it's done tremendous damage." He felt officials could have avoided the damage if they had acted quickly.

Leaking pipeline

The leak appeared to come from a pipeline connecting to one of the three oil production structures off the coast of Huntington Beach. They are owned by Amplify⁵ Energy Corporation.

Amplify head Martyn Willsher said the pipeline and the structures, called rigs, were shut down Saturday night. The company said it has removed the rest of the oil in the pipeline and is investigating where and why the spill happened.

Officials said the Coast Guard deployed⁶ 1,128 meters of floating barriers to try to stop more oil from reaching the coast.

California restricted offshore⁷ drilling after an oil spill near Santa Barbara in 1969. Another broken pipeline north of Santa Barbara leaked about 541,313 liters of crude oil in 2015.

The latest spill comes 30 years after a huge oil leak took place in the same area as the one over the weekend. In February of 1990, the oil tanker⁸ American Trader had an accident near Huntington Beach. The ship spilled nearly 1.6 million liters of oil. Thousands of fish and birds died.

On Sunday, Orange County supervisor⁹ Katrina Foley said oil had entered the Talbert Marsh¹⁰. The area is home to threatened and endangered species, including birds called the snowy plover¹¹ and the California least tern, and humpback whales.

"The coastal areas off of Southern California are just really rich for wildlife," said Miyoko Sakashita, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's oceans program.

"The oil spill just shows how dirty and dangerous oil drilling is and oil that gets into the water. It's impossible to clean it up so it ends up washing up on our beaches and people come into contact with it and wildlife comes in contact with it," she said.

David Rapchun lives in Huntington Beach. He said he is worried about the effects of the spill on the beaches where he grew up and the local economy.

"For the amount of oil these things produce I don't think it's worth the risk," Rapchun added.

Words in This Story

catastrophe –n. a terrible disaster

constitute –v. to make up or form something

devastating –adj. causing great damage or harm

beach –n. an area covered with sand or small ricks that is next to an ocean or lake

tremendous –adj. very large or great

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

3 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

8 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

9 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

10 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

11 plover   

n.珩，珩科鸟，千鸟

参考例句：

• He wondered if the plover was the fastest bird.他想知道千鸟是不是最快的鸟。
• American plover of inland waters and fields having a distinctive cry.美洲内陆水域和牧场的鸻，叫声特别。