Ship’s anchor may have caused massive California oil spill

By STEFANIE DAZIO, MATTHEW BROWN and BRIAN MELLEY

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Federal investigators say a ship’s anchor may have hooked, dragged and torn a massive underwater pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the water off Southern California. They also say the pipeline owner didn’t quickly shut down operations after a safety system alerted to a possible spill. The weekend spill sent up to 126,000 gallons of heavy crude into the ocean off Huntington Beach and will close beaches and stop local fishing for weeks. Questions remain about the timeline of the spill. The Coast Guard says a commercial ship reported a possible spill Friday night and later reports followed but the agency waited until sunrise Saturday to investigate.