A US Coast Guard vessel “accidentally discharged” about 500 gallons of diesel fuel off the coast of Northern California, District 11 of the military branch said in a news release.
The Coast Guard Cutter Alder, a 225-foot buoy tender, was on its way to Humboldt Bay Friday morning while the vessel was about 30 miles offshore from the town of Fort Bragg, the release said.
Coast Guard officials said they are investigating and “evaluating potential impacts to sensitive sites” but do not expect the shoreline to be affected.
“Our priority is to protect the environment and prevent any future incidents,” said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Andrew Sugimoto, commander of District 11.
CNN contacted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to ask if the department would be involved in any cleanup efforts.
The spill follows an incident off Southern California’s coast last week in which about 85 gallons of what appeared to be “lightly weathered crude oil” was found off the coast of Huntington Beach.
Roughly 1,050 pounds of oily waste, sand and tar balls were also removed from the shoreline, and one aquatic diving bird with oil on it was recovered, according to the Coast Guard.
Both incidents occurred more than two years after as many as 131,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from an Amplify Energy oil pipeline into the Huntington Beach area of the Pacific Ocean in October 2021, prompting beach closures for about a week.
CNN’s Claire Colbert contributed to this report.