HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- Crude was no longer leaking from a Southern California pipeline believed to be the source of an oil spill that closed miles of popular beaches on Sunday, according to the head of the company that owns the facility.
Divers were still trying to determine where and why the leak occurred, but the flow of oil was stopped late Saturday from the line that runs under the ocean off Huntington Beach, said Amplify Energy CEO Martyn Willsher.
At least 126,000 gallons of crude spilled into the waters off Orange County starting late Friday or early Saturday when boaters began reporting a sheen in the water, officials said.
"I don't expect it to be more. That's the capacity of the entire pipeline," Willsher said at a Sunday news conference.
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He said the pipeline was suctioned out and dozens of nearby oil platforms operated by Amplify were shut down. It was one of the largest oil spills in recent Southern California history, fouling the strand in Huntington Beach, the town known as Surf City USA. Crews scrambled to contain the crude before it spread farther into protected wetlands.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said the city's famous beaches could remain closed for weeks or even months.
"This oil spill constitutes one of the most devastating situations that our community has dealt with in decades," Carr said.
The oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore in sticky, black globules along with dead birds and fish, officials said. Crews led by the U.S. Coast Guard deployed skimmers and floating barriers known as booms to try to stop further incursion into the wetlands and the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.
The closure included all of Huntington Beach about 6 miles south to the Santa Ana River jetty amid summerlike weather that would have brought big crowds to the wide strand for volleyball, swimming and surfing.
Officials canceled the final day of the annual Pacific Air Show that typically draws thousands of spectators to Huntington Beach, a city of about 199,000 residents about 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
The oil slick originated from a broken pipeline connected to an offshore oil platform known as Elly, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said on Twitter. Elly is connected by walkway to another platform, Ellen, located just over 8.5 miles off Long Beach, according to the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
At a news conference Saturday night, Orange County officials expressed concern about the environmental impacts of the spill and hoped crews could stop the oil before it flowed into sensitive wetlands.
"We've been working with our federal, state and county partners to mitigate the impact that could be a potential ecological disaster," Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said.
The area is home to threatened and endangered species -- including a plump shorebird called the snowy plover, the California least tern and humpback whales -- a fishing industry and migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway.
"The coastal areas off of Southern California are just really rich for wildlife, a key biodiversity hot spot," said Miyoko Sakashita, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's oceans program.
The effects of an oil spill are wide-ranging, environmentalists said.
"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. "It has long-lasting effects on the breeding and reproduction of animals. It's really sad to see this broad swatch oiled."
Information for this article was contributed by Felicia Fonseca and Julie Walker of The Associated Press.