Controversy is growing over the authorities' response to North Korea amid a large-scale oil spill off the coast of southern California, USA.

    According to the Associated Press on the 5th (local time), maritime accident response authorities, including the US Coast Guard, were reported to have ignored the initial report of a suspected oil spill, but only confirmed the accident after 12 hours and responded late.

    ◇ Delayed response for 12 hours after passing the first report
    The first report of an oil spill was made on the night of the 1st. A ship's occupant informed the Coast Guard that there was an oil luster in the sea.

    However, the US Coast Guard dismissed the report as "not comprehensive information".

    Six hours later, a satellite image analysis of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported a possible marine oil band, but even at this time, the authorities did not move.

    The authorities responded after the oil spill was reported by Amplifi Energy, an offshore oil drilling company that operates the oil pipeline.

    AmpliFi reported that 126,000 gallons (477,000 liters) of heavy oil had been leaked on the morning of the 2nd. It was 12 hours after the first report on the night of the 1st.

    "The Coast Guard didn't have enough evidence of the oil spill and it was nighttime, so they didn't investigate for 12 hours," an official told The Associated Press.

    The joint accident investigation team said at a press conference on the same day that it is "common" to receive reports of oil luster in the waters near the port in response to the controversy over the response to North Korea. claimed.

    Reuters pointed out that officials, who must respond quickly to the oil spill, "defended themselves" at a press conference and that "angered residents slammed for the slow response."

◇1.2km steel oil pipeline bent like a bow and dragged 32m... Possibility of damage by hitting the anchor
    The accident joint investigation team released the results of an initial investigation on the day that an undersea oil pipeline was being dragged and damaged.

    Rebecca Orr, commander of the Los Angeles (LA)-Long Beach District Coast Guard, said that approximately 4,000 feet (1.22 km) of the subsea oil pipeline where the oil spill occurred moved 105 feet (32 m) sideways, and 13 inches (33 cm) of the pipeline cracked. ) that there is a hole.

    Amplify said, "The oil pipe is bent like a bow, and it has almost a semicircle shape."

    "It's a 16-inch (40.6 cm), 0.5-in. (1.27 cm) thick steel oil pipeline, covered with concrete," said Martin Wilshire, CEO.

    Authorities are investigating the possibility that the anchor of a ship passing through the waters of the accident area may have been damaged when it collided with an oil pipeline.

    However, the joint investigation team did not confirm the 'anchor breakage theory' at the briefing on the same day.

    Coast Guard Commander Orr said he had not been able to confirm that there was a ship in the waters of the oil pipeline.

    However, due to the recent logistics crisis and port bottlenecks, the waters near the ports of LA and Long Beach are filled with ships waiting to arrive, so it is possible that the ship passed the accident point.

    According to the Southern California Maritime Exchange, on September 19th, there were 97 cargo ships waiting to arrive in Los Angeles and Long Beach, and 63 container ships waiting on the same day.'

    ◇ Possible spread of oil bands… "Huge blow to coastal economy"
    The joint investigation team said the pipeline had been blocked and found no trace of an additional oil spill.

    Oil spilled off the coast of Huntington Beach, California, spread to beaches and marshes miles away.

    So far, 4,800 gallons (18,000 liters) of oil have been recovered, and the total length of the large floating barrier 'boom' installed at sea to prevent the spread of oil is 11,400 feet (3.47 km).

    So far, the oil spill counted by the authorities has risen to 144,000 gallons (545,000 liters).

    It is not as large as the 4.2 million gallon (15.9 million liters) oil spill that extensively polluted the waters off Santa Barbara, California in 1969.

    The damage is relatively small compared to the worst accidents in history, the Exxon Valdes oil spill in Alaska in 1989 and the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico oil rig in 2010.

    However, authorities have warned that winds and currents are likely to move the oil belt further south.

    In addition, as the coast is closed, damage to the surrounding commercial areas is expected to be inevitable.

    "It's a huge blow to the local economy, as beach businesses can close for weeks or longer and offshore fishing is banned," the Associated Press said.

    "The leak has closed valuable beaches, damaged the environment and poses a health risk to local residents," CNN reported.

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