The oil sheen the police department spotted is two nautical miles off the coast of Bolsa Chica State Beach just south of Warner Avenue. No source was determined for the sheen.
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Huntington Beach police said the department had received reports of a "strong oil smell" near Pacific Coast Highway and Warner Avenue. The sheen is 20 by 15 yards according to the tweet police put out.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response also responded to the incident. The department and the Coast Guard are making sure the oil doesn't reach fragile wetlands.
Officials deployed booms as a preventive measure to capture any oil before it could reach the shore.
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The Coast Guard is trying to determine if the oil is from October's massive spill that Tuesday's storm brought to the surface -- or if it is from a new source. So far, they have not been able to say where the oil is coming from.
On Wednesday, a Houston-based oil company and two subsidiaries were indicted in connection with a large oil spill off the Orange County coast in October.