Ventura Oil Spill Dumps 29,400 Gallons of Oil Near California Beaches — Here's the Latest

Impact

After noticing a leaky pipe at about 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, firefighters have halted the estimated 700 barrels of crude oil leaking from a pipe in Ventura County, California. With each barrel containing 42 gallons of oil, that was about 29,400 gallons on the move toward the coastline, but it was halted before it could reach the nearby beach. 

Although the owner of the pipeline, Crimson Pipeline, had turned off the pump attached to that pipeline, gravity made the oil continue to spill. "The pump has been shut down," Ventura County firefighter Marisol Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Times. "There's no way it can get to the ocean." Rodriguez said officials were "in cleanup mode."

At about 9 a.m. Eastern, officials said the oil moved about half a mile beachward.

No evacuations were issued. The Coast Guard, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and the Oxnard Fire Department also responded to the leak.

The air quality of the area is currently being monitored following the spill, according to KTLA-5

In 2015, up to 143,000 gallons of crude oil did reach the beach in Santa Barbara, California, creating tar balls and killing local sea life. 

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