Oil spill mars CALI FORNIA beaches

It smells like what they use to pave the roads. I’m sad for the birds

GOLETA , CALIF. • More than 29,000 litres of oil have been raked, skimmed and vacuumed from a spill that stretched across 14 kilometres of California coast, just a fraction of the sticky crude that escaped from a ruptured pipeline, officials said Thursday.

Up to 400,000 litres may have leaked from the pipeline Tuesday, and up to 80,000 litres reached the sea just northwest of Santa Barbara, according to estimates from the pipeline operator, Plains All American Pipeline LP.

The environmental impact was still being assessed, but there was no immediate evidence of widespread harm to birds and sea life.

The early toll on wildlife included five oil-covered pelicans, which were taken in to be cleaned, officials said. Biologists counted dead fish and crustaceans along sandy beaches and rocky shores.

The spill occurred along a long, rustic coast that forms the northern boundary of the Santa Barbara Channel, home to a rich array of sea life. Whales, dolphins, sea lions, seals, sea otters and birds use the waters between the mainland and the Channel Islands, five of which are a national park surrounded by a national marine sanctuary.

The coastline was the scene of a much larger spill in 1969 — the largest in U.S. waters at the time — that is credited with giving rise to the American environmental movement.

Workers in protective suits shovelled black sludge off beaches, and boats towed booms into place to corral two oil slicks. The number of cleanup workers surpassed 300, and the number of boats working the slicks rose to 18.

They could get help from expected light winds and calm seas, said Sean Anderson, an environmental scientist at California State University, Channel Islands.

“When the water’s choppy, the response gets complicated. But since the water’s nice and flat, the oil sticks together and it’s easier to spot and easier to pick up,” he said.

Coast Guard Capt. Jennifer Williams said the slicks were moving seaward, not toward other beaches.

A combination of soiled beaches and the pungent stench of petroleum led officials to close popular campgrounds Refugio State Beach and El Capitan State Beach over the Memorial Day weekend.

Still, tourists pulled off the Pacific Coast Highway to eye the disaster from overlooking bluffs.

“It smells like what they use to pave the roads,” said Fan Yang, of Indianapolis, who was hoping to find cleaner beaches in Santa Barbara, about 30 km away.

“I’m sad for the birds — if they lose their habitat.”