The Ventura County Fire Department was called to the scene after the pipeline leak was first spotted at about 5:30 a.m.
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Up to 700 barrels of crude bled Thursday into Prince Barranca, a gorge that typically fills with water during storms. “It is important to remember that with last year’s Plains All American Oil Spill at Refugio Beach, the initial industry estimates were orders of magnitude below reality”, Segee said.
Ventura Fire Department spokeswoman Kelly Flanders says a pumphouse operating the line has been shut down Thursday and firefighters are trying to prevent the oil from flowing down a gully to a beach in Ventura County.
Colorado-based Crimson Pipeline LLLC owns the 10-inch underground pipeline that was the source of the leak.
“Because we were prepared and trained for such incidents as this, we were able to do a damming and diking operation, with our agencies working together, and stopping the flow of oil from even making it through the city, much less down to the ocean”, Ventura City Fire Chief David Endeya said.
The amount of oil is uncertain, but fire officials estimated at least 5,000 barrels – or roughly 210,000 gallons – of crude oil has spilled, the Associated Press reported.
“The line didn’t break”, she said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether any animals were impacted by the oil.
Oil coats rocks in a stream in Ventura County, California, the site of a 29,000-gallon oil spill. He reported that it “It seems like they stopped it”.
It marked the latest significant oil spill in California and underscored the hazards of the oil and natural gas industry along the Central Coast, where past year a corroded pipeline, owned by Plains All American Pipeline, spewed 143,000 gallons of crude oil onto Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara. Crimson’s smaller Gulf of Mexico affiliate was also responsible for 220 barrels (9,240 gallons) spilled just a year ago.
The Los Angeles Times said that the oil leak formed “a small lake across the street from homes on Hall Canyon Road”. Pipeline operator Plains All American Pipeline was indicted this month on 46 criminal counts, including four felony charges, and faces almost $3 million in fines.
The oil was produced by a company called Aera Energy.
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The cause of the leak is being investigated. We are glad to see that Crimson Pipeline officials within hours of the accident assumed responsibility. The company’s California branch hasn’t received a federal inspection since 2006.
