California’s coast has a history of oil and natural gas production, dating back to the 19th century, and currently has 27 offshore oil and gas platforms in central and Southern California, with 8 being recently decommissioned. This industry presents challenges to offshore ecosystems, including oil spills, and remnant onshore and offshore infrastructure. USC Sea Grant supports scientific research that helps inform management decisions that protect the health of Southern California’s ecosystems.
Relevant Research
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Funding: NOAA (2024-2026)
Principal Investigators:
- Roman Barco, Ph.D., University of Southern California
- Jan Amend, Ph.D., University of Southern California
Community Engagement
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On October 2nd, 2021, a major oil spill was detected in Southern California, originating from an underwater pipe connected to the Elly platform about 4.5 miles offshore near Long Beach, California. The USC Sea Grant Program created a StoryMap in response to this event to provide updated information and resources as the oil spill event and clean-up progressed.
The StoryMap includes:
- Response
- Impacts to Habitat
- Oil Spills of the Past
- Resources
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The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) collaborated with the Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Program and three Sea Grant Programs (Alaska Sea Grant, University of Southern California Sea Grant, and Virginia Sea Grant) to host regional workshops in 2018 and 2019 aimed at improving community preparedness for future oil spills.
Each workshop brought together practitioners and interested parties to focus on lessons learned about public health, social disruption, and economic impacts of oil spills, and to identify regional needs and priorities for improving preparedness.
The workshops produced regional and national priorities and protocols that enhanced the existing response and regulatory frameworks and the foundations for increased regional capacities in oil spill community preparedness.
USC Sea Grant hosted the West Coast Regional Workshop, titled Improving Oil Spill Preparedness and Response in Santa Barbara, on April 5, 2019.
Read the Improving Oil Spill Preparedness and Response in Santa Barbara Workshop Report
Additional Resources:
- 2018 Press Release
- Learn About Oil Spill Science from the Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Program
- Publication: Sempier, S. et al. (2020). Evaluation of a National Workshop Series to Minimize Health, Social, and Economic Disruptions from Oil Spills.
- Learn more about the collaborative workshop series and outcomes by exploring the website or reading the series summary report
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Title: Oil and Water: The Unexpected Mixture That Paved the Way for USC Sea Grant
Published: October 30, 2020
Written by: Charlotte Stevenson, USC Sea Grant Senior Science Writer and Program Specialist
