Officials are reporting that a ruptured pipeline leaked an estimated 21,000 gallons of oil into the ocean off of Santa Barbara County.
Emergency crews responded to the leak just off Refugio State Beach in Goleta that left a four-mile-long oil sheen. According to the LA Times, the damaged pipeline is owned by Plains All America Pipeline. It runs along the coast close to the 101 Highway. Crews were able to stop the leak within three hours of it being reported. While the Coast Guard estimated that around 21,000 gallons escaped, State officials declined to comment, saying it could take several days to figure out exactly how much oil leaked.
Although a leak of any size is a bad thing, as spills go this wasn’t a huge one, due to the quick response of emergency crews. For perspective, the Deepwater Horizon disaster spilled 210 million gallons in one of the most catastrophic oil disasters in history.
Below is a recent video of the water off Goleta late last year.
More on this story as it develops.
