California water officials seek penalties in Santa Barbara oil spill
By Sharon Bernstein
2 hours ago
By Sharon Bernstein
SACRAMENTO,
Calif. (Reuters) - California water quality regulators have asked
Attorney General Kamala Harris to consider enforcement action against
the owner of an oil pipeline that ruptured near Santa Barbara in May,
spilling petroleum onto beaches and the Pacific Ocean.
The
Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board said Monday that it
had referred the incident near Refugio State Beach to the state's top
prosecutor, who under the law could seek penalties of up to $25,000 per
day of violation, plus $25 for every gallon of oil spilled.
"The
Water Board will work closely with the Attorney General's office to
make sure all those responsible for the Refugio spill face the strongest
enforcement measures allowed by law," the Board chair Jean-Pierre Wolff
said in a press release.
The owner, Plains All-American Pipeline, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Refugio
State Beach, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Santa Barbara, was closed
along with nearby El Capitan State Beach after they were fouled when an
underground pipeline that runs along the coastal highway burst on May
19. Both have since been reopened.
After
the spill, federal inspectors determined that the section of pipeline
owned by Texas-based Plains All American Pipeline that ruptured had been
badly corroded and was degraded to 1/16th of an inch (1.6 mm).
The
spill dumped as much as 2,400 barrels (101,000 gallons or 382,000
liters) of crude onto a pristine stretch of the Santa Barbara coastline
and into the Pacific, leaving slicks that stretched over nine miles (14
km) along the coast and closing the two state beaches.
The
spill zone lies at the edge of a national marine sanctuary and
state-designated underwater preserve teeming with whales, dolphins, sea
lions, some 60 species of sea birds and more than 500 species of fish.
The surrounding waters are shared by nearly two dozen offshore oil platforms.
Wolff
said that the water board has the authority to impose its own
penalties, but that the attorney general's office had the power to order
higher ones, should they be warranted.