It’s been about a week since a big oil spill hit the Southern California shoreline near Orange County. Tar sullied sensitive wetlands. Birds and fish died. Miles of beaches were closed. The L.A. Times newsroom has produced dozens of stories trying to understand what happened, and what we’ve found so far isn’t pretty: aging offshore oil platforms and pipelines — being bought up by companies that have a history of safety violations.

Today, we speak to L.A. Times investigative reporter Connor Sheets about the causes of the so-called Huntington Beach oil spill. And an environmental activist — Center for Biological Diversity oceans program director Miyoko Sakashita — describes what she found when visiting Southern California’s offshore drilling platforms in 2018.

More reading:

Full coverage: the Huntington Beach oil spill

California attorney general launches investigation into Orange County oil spill

Federal regulation of oil platforms was dogged by problems long before O.C. spill

How much would it cost to shut down an offshore oil well? Who pays?

The oil spill along California's fragile coast