Return to Transcripts main page
CNN 10
Alaskan Teen Creates Mobile Coffee Shop; Massive Oil Spill Off California Coast; Future of Electronic Waste?. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired October 05, 2021 - 04:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz.
A warm welcome to our viewers around the world and thank you for taking 10 minutes to check out today`s show. We`re headed back to the U.S. state of
California for our first story this Tuesday.
A leak in an oil pipeline has shut down beaches, threatened wildlife and triggered a large cleanup effort. The problem was first reported last
Saturday. Officials think it occurred about five miles off the coast of Southern California.
The CEO of the company that owns the pipeline says employees were working at sea when they noticed a sheen in the water. He says they contacted the
Coast Guard and cleared out oil at both ends of the pipeline to try to keep additional crude from leaking.
But while officials say it looks like the leak has stopped, it still cost 126,000 gallons of oil to spill into the sea. It`s not the largest oil leak
in U.S. history. The Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010 released an estimated 168 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
You can still see the evidence of last weekend`s leak. Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, these are all located in Southern California
near Los Angeles. They have either issued warnings about the spill or shut down altogether.
Local officials say natural habitats in the area, wetlands have been damaged, and dead animals have washed up on shore. U.S. government agencies
are investigating the spill and helping with the cleanup. But what`s still a mystery is how exactly this happened and where exactly the breach of the
pipeline occurred.
The faulty pipe is 17 miles long. It belongs to a company called Amplify Energy. And it says the systems that operate the pipeline were built in the
1970s and `80s and are inspected every other year, including during the pandemic.
So, while investigators are working to figure that out, the Coast Guard has been working to remove thousands of gallons of oil from the Pacific.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than 1, 200 gallons of oily water mixture have been recovered as of Sunday afternoon, and 3, 700 feet of boom
have been deployed.
But 1, 200 gallons is nowhere near the potential total spill amount of 126,000 gallons. We have watched as boats have dragged a boom up and down
the coast trying to collect that oil.
The recovery and cleanup will take quite some time. So far, one oiled ruddy duck is under veterinary care. And other reports of animals washing up with
oil on them are being investigated. People here at Huntington Beach have found tar balls on the bottoms of their feet and on their skin, which
Orange County public health officials warn could cause skin irritation.
Health officials said Sunday they would issue an advisory, especially for people with respiratory illnesses, that products evaporated from the spill
could also cause irritation for the eyes, nose and throat, could cause dizziness or even vomiting.
The bottom line is people should stay away from the water and away from the shoreline.
KATRINA FOLEY, ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, DISTRICT 2 SUPERVISOR: I was there for a few hours today, and, even during that time, I started to feel
a little bit of -- my throat hurt. And you can feel the vapor in the air.
I saw what I will describe as little pancake clusters of oil along the shoreline. And I have described it as something like an egg yolk. If you
push it, it kind of spreads out. And so, we don`t want people to disturb those little clusters, so that the cleanup can be more easily maintained.
CHEN: The parent company responsible here is Amplify Energy. Their CEO said Sunday they would do everything in their power to make this a quick
recovery.
The spill was about 4.5 miles offshore from a pipeline that connects from a processing platform to the shore. Divers were in place Sunday evening at
the potential source site to investigate how this leak happened. And the National Transportation Safety Board has also sent out investigators to
help figure out how this occurred.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: There`s a subtle difference between the type of oil leaked off the California coast and the kind we have seen in other spills, like the BP or
Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.
This time around, instead of raw crude, what leaked is something called post-production oil.
CNN`s Tom Sater explains how this could impact the cleanup effort.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Let`s show you where this complex is.
Notice these boxes offshore here. This is called the Beta Field. It`s actually property that is owned by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
This property is leased by these oil companies.
Now, we`re getting in closer. And you`re going to see we have several of these oil rigs. They all begin with the letter E, their names. You got
Edith and Elly here. This is the concern.
The red lines that move toward the shore are pipelines. This is, as mentioned, is post-production oil. It`s not raw crude, like we had with the
BP oil spill. So, the consistency, it`s going to be a little bit lighter, less dense. So, it`s easily going to disperse on the field of the ocean
waters.
But, again, the farther northern line, that`s Elly`s line. We have heard preliminary reports there was a breach on this pipeline. Where? It is
unknown. We were told that they did put a temporary patch on it, or at least a partial patch yesterday.
And they`re getting at work on that again today. But this is 3,000 barrels of oil, that`s 126,000, 130,000 gallons. So, again, these pipelines carry
it to the shore. where? Again, we`re just not sure of.
So, let`s follow the winds that push the sea currents. Anyone in Southern California will tell you, you have got the onshore flow, the offshore flow.
So, even though you see that red box here -- this is where that oil sheen is -- at 5.8 miles in length, when you have the winds pushing on shore at a
less density with this crude oil, you can almost expect that field to expand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ (voice-over): ":10 Trivia."
After paper products, what accounts for the largest category of U.S. solid waste, food, plastics, yard trimmings, or metals?
The U.S. government says food accounts for more than 21 percent of solid waste.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Next story is not a total waste, but it is totally about that topic.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says what we have done with our garbage has changed dramatically over the decades. In 1960, for instance,
almost all municipal waste went to landfills. A fraction went to recycling. Now much more waste is recycled, while food management, composting and
combustion for energy are all growing alternatives to landfills.
But that`s not always the case for the electronics we increasingly use and throw away. What can be done with e-waste?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): This is it, the end of the road for old electronics, or not quite.
LYES YAHIAOUI, CEO, ENVIROSERVE: So, this is an example of e-waste. All these are microwaves, laptops, phones. Everything goes from here. This is
the start of the process.
STEWART: A new lease of life to unwanted devices. Cables, phones, printers go in all chopped up. Out comes all sorts of materials like new, ready to
be used in manufacturing once more.
YAHIAOUI: These materials are coming from this phone. And the really big goal is to make a new phone like this.
STEWART: Enviroserve collects e-waste for more than 10 countries across the Middle East and Africa.
Once in the Dubai facility, devices needing a quick fix get repaired. Anything broken has their batteries removed, gets torn apart, and is
separated based on what they`re made of.
We each produce an average of seven kilograms of electronic waste per year. That`s the equivalent to almost four laptops per person on the planet every
year, and it`s expected to double by 2050.
Getting rid of all this stuff isn`t easy. First, there`s the health risk of being exposed to toxic materials. And if you chuck it in landfill, then all
these valuable items just go to waste.
YAHIAOUI: The e-waste, going to the landfill is not solution. It`s just parked, idling for the future. For when? Nobody knows.
STEWART: Which is why Enviroserve is determined to provide an alternative.
For now, they are currently operating at only 7 percent capacity. But eventually, they hope to process 39,000 tons of e-waste every year.
YAHIAOUI: We are not at full capacity, definitely not, but we are ready for the future, so we can do more and more.
STEWART: Around the world, less than 20 percent of electronic waste is properly recycled, according to the Global E-waste Monitor.
KEES BALDE, SENIOR PROGRAM OFFICER, UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY: And, currently, only -- only $10 billion, U.S. dollar, of raw materials are
being recovered from e-waste. And nearly $50 billion are not recovered at all.
So, there is a big opportunity out there.
STEWART: Electronic waste, an example of how one man`s trash is another man`s treasure.
Anna Stewart, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Kaylee Rickard-Ramos gets 10 out of 10 today. She`s an Alaskan teenage athlete with a 4.0 grade-point average.
But it`s what she did with an old delivery truck that`s getting her national attention. Kaylee previously worked in a cafe, and she wanted to
save money for college.
So, with the help of family and friends, the high school sophomore converted her grandparents` unused truck to a mobile coffee shop, and,
voila, espresso and college savings.
Let`s see. Should we wheel out a load of truck puns or serve up a latte coffee puns? One would be a chassisy way to haul out some bed liner one-
liners, but the other could brew up an energizing cof-feet of puns that we could milk for all it`s worth.
So, I think I will go with -- but we don`t want to make you cafe o`late.
So, want to give a quick shout-out to Mauston High School in Mauston, Wisconsin, and wish you a good day.
I`m Carl Azuz for CNN.
END
