Just as moms were planning what to pack in the family cooler and beach lovers in and around Santa Barbara were preparing for a holiday weekend of summer sunning and fun, a 21,000-gallon crude oil spill has washed those plans out to sea.
Four days before the Memorial Day weekend, which typically marks the start of summer, a 24-inch pipeline ruptured along the Santa Barbara coast Tuesday, leaking the oil near Refugio State Beach, a protected state park, said Capt. Jennifer Williams of the U.S. Coast Guard.
The pipeline is owned by Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline, which said it shut down the flow of oil and is conducting an emergency response.
“Plains deeply regrets this release has occurred and is making every effort to limit its environmental impact,” the company said in a statement. “No injuries have been reported at this time.”
Refugio State Beach
A thick, black, greasy, 100-foot-wide oil slick now snakes along what was the pristine shoreline of Refugio State Beach for about 4 miles.
Refugio State Beach sits below Reagan Ranch, 20 miles west of Santa Barbara, California. It’s a popular camping destination, treasured by visitors because it is on a raw, unspoiled stretch of coast, reports CNN’s Paul Vercammen.
“It is gorgeous. This is remote. This is not a place with a lot of commercial liquor stores and T-shirt shops,” he said. “This is pristine, and this is why people come here, to Refugio State Beach.”
Response and cleanup
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has three 65-foot vessels on the scene, collecting oil, and six boom vessels in operation, according to its Twitter feed. There are 73 people in the field collecting oil and protecting the snowy plover, a small brown-and-white shorebird.
“We are monitoring, the Coast Guard is on the scene and federal and state agencies and the operator have established an Incident Command/Unified Command,” a White House official said. Also, two inspectors with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration are at the site of the spill, and “additional inspectors are scheduled to arrive today.”
“It’s still too early for numbers on the amount of oil,” said Brad Alexander, a spokesman for the California Office of Emergency Services.
“I can tell you we have more than 100 people responding in the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) right now. They have several ships, scooping up oil and assessing the boundaries on the water,” he said.
Plains All American Pipeline said it found out about the oil spill Tuesday. It affected its Las Flores-to-Gaviota pipeline in Santa Barbara County.
It said the leaked oil reached a culvert, and it spilled into the Pacific Ocean from there. The culvert was later blocked to stop the flow.
