GOLETA, Calif. (AP) — May 20, 2015 — 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. More than 6,000 gallons had been collected by cleanup crews.
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.
The chief executive of the company that runs the pipeline, Plains All American Pipeline LP, was at the site of the spill Wednesday and apologized for it.
“We deeply, deeply regret that this incident has occured at all,” Chairman and CEO Greg L. Armstrong said at a news conference. “We apologize for the damage that it’s done to the wildlife and to the environment and we’re very sorry for the disruption and inconvenience that it’s caused on the citizens and the visitors to this area.”
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald