CREDIT: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
According to the Ventura County fire department, up to 700 barrels of crude oil — some 29,000 gallons — have spilled from a pipeline in southern California...
Initial reports placed the amount of oil spilled from the pipeline at 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons, but those totals were revised as of Thursday morning. Officials are relying on a natural catch basin that exists in the area to capture the oil while crews build larger barriers, according to the Los Angeles Times.
As of Thursday afternoon, U.S. Coast Guard officials confirmed that no oil from the spill had reached the ocean, and no homes in the area had been evacuated.
#VenturacityFD @VCFD responding to crude oil spill #GroveInc #Ventura. Up to 5,000 barrels -- HazMat teams on scene.
10:19 AM - 23 Jun 2016Crews on scene assessing scene, potential impacts & cleanup of approx. 700 barrels crude oil #groveinc #ventura
Ventura county workers are currently on the scene beginning the clean-up process, which will entail vacuuming excess oil from contaminated areas — rocks, soil, and any other place that came into contact with the oil. According to California Fish and Wildlife official George Struebel, environmental scientists are on the scene investigating any potential threat to fish and wildlife, but none have been reported.
A year ago, California suffered the largest coastal oil spill in the state in 25 years just west of Ventura, when an oil pipeline ruptured in Santa Barbara County, with some 143,000 gallons of crude flowing to the coast. Thursday’s spill is also located just 15 miles southeast of the site of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, which sent some 3 million gallons of crude into the Pacific Ocean and is largely credited with launching the modern environmental movement.
by Natasha Geiling
Jun 23, 2016 12:10 pm
source: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/issue/
original story HERE
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