4-miles-wide oil slick off the coast of Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara

http://ktla.com/2015/05/19/oil-slick-off-refugio-state-beach-in-santa-barbara-county-prompts-emergency-response/

Emergency officials and the U.S. Coast Guard were responding to an apparent 4-miles-wide oil slick off the coast of Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County on Tuesday.

Authorities were responding to an apparent oil slick in the ocean off Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County on May 19, 2015. (Credit: KTLA)

Multiple local news outlets reported a pungent smell from spilled oil, and county Fire Department officials told outlets the spill originated on land but said the flow had been stopped.

U.S. Coast Guard crews were responding to an “unknown sheen” at Refugio, the guard’s Los Angeles/Long Beach office Twitter account stated.

The sheen was from a ruptured pipeline on the shore side that had been “secured,” the Coast Guard office later confirmed in a tweet.

County fire and emergency officials were responding to the 4-mile-wide slick, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard also said in a tweet that Exxon was responding, but ExxonMobil spokesman Christian Flathman said the pipeline was not one of the company’s and the company was not responding. Flathman said he planned to contact the Coast Guard.

Emergency officials appeared to be working at the on-land spill near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County on May 19, 2015. (Credit: KTLA)
Emergency officials appeared to be working at the on-land spill near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County on May 19, 2015. (Credit: KTLA)

The type of material composing the slick remained unknown, the Coast Guard said.

Aerial video from Sky5 showed a large amount of dark material in the water and on the sand. Workers appeared to be treating a spill in a field on the other side of the 101 Freeway from the beach.

At least a quarter-mile patch appeared to be slicking the surface of the ocean water off the beach, aerial video showed.

The Santa Barbara Channel was the site of a massive oil spill in 1969 that left the coast darkened with oil, killed thousands of birds and galvanized the environmental movement.

The slick was washing onto the sand at Refugio State Beach on May 19, 2015.

An effort to permanently ban off-shore oil drilling in state waters off Santa Barbara failed in the state Assembly last August.

Refugio State Beach is about 21 miles west of downtown Santa Barbara (map). A state park, the beach has a popular campground that is completely booked for Memorial Day weekend.

Very sad news. That is a really nice bit of coastline, my home haunt as a kid.
This will likely push more anti-oil legislation for the region, but maybe it is time for that. Most folks have forgotten the 69 spill by now.

As I understand it, the pipeline was shared by several companies to move oil from the wells to the refineries.
As such it is a high volume, high pressure line.

That area sure is rich in bubblin' crude. It seeps out from the seafloor naturally and at times your feet will be covered in it from walking the beach barefoot.

Which reminds me of....

thanks for sharing yester. does anybody have an update on it ? I still remember the public outcry in 69 dad and all of skin diving buddies were appalled. back then there were still abalone in that region.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/may/20/the-latest-on-california-oil-spill-slicks-now/

To my understanding the latest is up to 105,000 gallons spilled

Such a nice area to bad I only checked it out once by myself