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Groups want US to suspend oil leases off California coast

Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP

Oil floats in the water surface after an oil spill in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. A major oil spill off the coast of Southern California fouled popular beaches and killed wildlife while crews scrambled Sunday, to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

By: Associated Press

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HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A group of environmental organizations is demanding the Biden administration suspend and cancel oil and gas leases in federal waters off the California coast after a recent crude oil spill.

The Center for Biological Diversity and about three dozen organizations sent a petition Wednesday to the Department of the Interior.

The groups say offshore drilling threatens wildlife, fisheries, and tourism, and the platforms off the coast of California are especially susceptible to problems due to their age.

The move comes several weeks after an undersea pipeline leaked about 25,000 gallons of crude into the ocean off Orange County.

The Department of the Interior declined to comment on the petition.