Crews working to keep oil spill from SoCal pipeline away from coast

LOS ANGELES — An oil spill of 700 barrels of crude from a pipeline in Ventura County, California, had emergency crews scrambling Thursday to keep the oil from reaching the nearby coast, a state official said.

The Ventura County Fire Department initially estimated the size of the leak at about 5,000 barrels, but in a message on Twitter it later revised the figure down to 700 barrels.

Crimson Pipeline took responsibility for the spill in a regulatory filing. The spill occurred in the area of Ventura, a beachside community less than 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Spotters stationed at outflows into the Pacific Ocean, which is about a mile from the site of the leak, said no oil had reached the coast, Doug Allen, a supervising pipeline safety engineer for the state, said in a phone interview.

Crews created an earth-filled dam about a quarter mile from the site of the leak to capture the oil, Allen said.

“It seems like they stopped it,” said Allen, who is with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which has jurisdiction over the pipeline.

The area where the spill occurred has a natural catch basin that may capture the leaked oil, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing officials.

Crews were investigating the cause of the leak, which was reported at around 5:30 a.m. local time, Allen said.

The pumps on the line have been shut off, so oil is no longer flowing, Allen said.

A representative from the Ventura County Fire Department could not be reached for comment.

Last year, a ruptured pipeline in Santa Barbara County, just northwest of Ventura County, sent up to 2,500 barrels of crude gushing onto the shore and into the Pacific Ocean, federal officials said at the time.