New Photos Show Extent Of Corrosion In Pipeline That Ruptured In Santa Barbara County
GOLETA (CBSLA.com) — New photos released Tuesday show the extensive corrosion on an oil pipe that ruptured, spilling more than 100,000 gallons of oil into the waters off Refugio State Beach near Santa Barbara.
The damaged section of pipe was removed from the west end of the spill impact zone on May 28 and inspected by personnel from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, Plains All American Pipeline and Santa Barbara County's Integrated EQAP for Oil and Gas Projects.
The oil pipe rupture on May 19 spilled 101,000 gallons of oil at Refugio State Beach, creating a 10-square-mile oil slick. Two weeks before the pipeline ruptured, tests had shown the pipe lost nearly half the metal near the break, but underestimated how thing the pipe had become.
Photos shot by the county's onsite environmental coordinator, Bruce Reitherman, showed major corrosion and the eight-inch hole created by the rupture in the pipe.
The damaged section of pipe was packed away and secured for delivery to a third-party analytical facility in Ohio.
The photos also showed a large amount of oil-soaked rock and debris at the bottom of the trench where the corroded pipe had been removed.
Reitherman said he also inspected two more sections of pipe that showed enough corrosion to require the temporary installation of a clamp.