May 22, 2015

California oil spill causes coastal crisis

editor:	Ama Lorenz

The Santa Barbara coastline was swamped with TK gallons of crude after Tuesday’s rupture of a pipeline owned by Houston-based Plains All American.

A total of up to 105,000 gallons is believed to have secreted from a ruptured pipe on land, before leaking through a culvert onto the sea front. About a fifth of that volume is estimated to have spilled into the ocean. „The underground oil pipeline was carrying 1,300 barrels an hour, below its maximum capacity of 2,000 barrels an hour“, said Rick McMichael of Plains All American Pipeline. According to CNN, the company has 175 federal safety and maintenance violations since 2006, responsible for more than 16,000 barrels in spills that have caused more than $23 million worth of property damage. That makes Plains All American Pipeline to one of the worst violators listed by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration.

The governor of California Jerry Brown declared the state of emergency in Santa Barbara County over the coastal oil spill.

"There continues to be a number of questions... including why there was no automatic shut-off on this relatively new pipeline, and why the early response was not more successful in halting the flow," said the Environmental Defense Center's head Owen Bailey, according to rappler.com

"This region is home to an incredible diversity of wildlife including numerous species of endangered whales and iconic coastlands that bring people from across the world to visit," he said.

Santa Barbara was before the scene of what was then the largest oil spill in US history, when in 1969 several million gallons of crude spewed into the ocean after an oil rig blowout.