The time it took to determine the scope of the leak has sparked questions from residents and others about how the early hours of the crisis were handled.
The oil slick, first reported Saturday, originated from a broken pipeline less than three miles off the coast of Huntington Beach connected to an offshore oil platform known as Elly. The rupture has poured more than 126,000 gallons of crude into coastal waters.
The pipeline failure caused roughly 130,000 gallons of oil to gush into the Catalina Channel, creating a slick that spanned about 8,320 acres larger than the size of Santa Monica.