Pipeline spills crude oil off California coast
Print Edition
A BROKEN pipeline spilled 79,500 liters of crude oil into the ocean before it was shut off on Tuesday, creating a slick stretching about 6.4 kilometers along the central California coastline, the United States Coast Guard said.
Authorities responding to reports of a foul smell near Refugio State Beach around noon found a 800-meter slick already formed in the ocean, Santa Barbara County Fire Captain Dave Zaniboni said. They traced the oil to the onshore pipeline that spilled into a culvert running under the US 101 freeway and into a storm drain that empties into the ocean.
The pipeline was shut off about three hours later but by then the slick stretched 6.4km and 45 meters into the water.
The 60-centimeter pipeline is owned by Plains All American Pipeline, which said it shut down the flow of oil and the culvert carrying the oil to the ocean was blocked.
“Plains deeply regrets this release has occurred and is making every effort to limit its environmental impact,” the company said in a statement.
The Coast Guard, county emergency officials and state parks officials were cleaning up the spill. Boats from the nonprofit collective Clean Seas also were providing help but were having trouble because so much of the oil was so close to the shore, Coast Guard spokeswoman Jennifer Williams said. About 3,200 liters of oil have been recovered from the water, Williams said.
The accident occurred on the same stretch of coastline as a 1969 spill that at the time was the largest ever in US waters and is credited for giving rise to the American environmental movement. Several thousand gallons spilled from a blowout on an oil platform and thousands of sea birds were killed along with many marine mammals.
It was later surpassed in size by 1989’s Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska and the 2010 Gulf oil spill off Louisiana.
The stretch of coastline about 32km northwest of the pricey real estate of Santa Barbara still is home to offshore oil rigs and some tar and seepage regularly show up on beaches. The spill is largest in years and the Environmental Defense Center said that to have it occur in “a sensitive and treasured environment is devastating to watch.”
It was unclear how long the cleanup would take and whether Refugio and other areas would be reopened in time for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
