Oil spill spreads across 9 miles of Calif. coast

Associated Press

GOLETA, Calif.

An oil spill from a ruptured onshore pipeline that fouled beaches and threatened wildlife along a scenic stretch of the California coast spread across 9 miles of ocean Wednesday, and officials said up to 105,000 gallons may have leaked out.

Up to a fifth of that amount – 21,000 gallons – reached the sea, according to estimates.

Federal regulators were investigating the leak as workers in protective suits raked and shoveled stinky black goo off the beaches, and boats towed booms into place to corral the two slicks off the Santa Barbara coast.

The coastline was the scene of a much-larger spill in 1969 — the largest in U.S. waters at the time — that is credited with giving rise to the American environmental movement.

Crude was flowing through the pipe at 84,000 gallons an hour when the leak was detected Tuesday. It took three hours to shut down, though company officials didn’t say how long it leaked before it was discovered or discuss the rate at which oil escaped.

Federal regulators from the Department of Transportation, which oversees oil-pipeline safety, investigated the leak’s cause, the pipe’s condition and the potential regulatory violations.

Wednesday night, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County over the coastal oil spill.

The move frees up emergency state funding and resources to help in the cleanup efforts.

The 24-inch pipe built in 1991 had no previous problems and was thoroughly inspected in 2012, according to Plains All American Pipeline LP, which owns the pipe. The pipe underwent similar tests about two weeks ago, though the results had not been analyzed yet.

“Plains is taking responsibility and paying for everything associated with this spill,” said Darren Palmer, a district manager with the company.

There was no estimate on the cost of the cleanup or how long it might take.