The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Delay raises questions about response to spill
Firm waited more than three hours to shut down pipeline.
Amplify Energy’s emergency response plan for a major oil spill like the one it’s now dealing with in coastal Southern California depended heavily on a quick shutdown of the San Pedro Bay Pipeline if its sensors picked up a sudden loss of pressure. That’s not what happened, investigators revealed Tuesday.
After an alarm went off in a company control room at 2:30 a.m. Saturday — signaling a rupture that would spill tens of thousands of gallons of crude into the Pacific Ocean — the company waited more than three hours to shut down the pipeline at 6:01 a.m., according to preliminary findings of an investigation into the spill.
The Houston-based company took another three hours to notify the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Response Center for oil spills, investigators said, further slowing the response to an accident for which Amplify workers spent years preparing.
“How come it took so long? That’s a fair question,” said Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline consultant and private accident investigator. “If you have any doubt, your action should be to shut down and close . ... Something’s not quite right here.”
Pipeline control room alarms are fairly routine and don’t always mean a leak, according to Kuprewicz and other industry experts. They can be tripped by numerous factors — from a faulty signal from a sensor along the line, to a pump that goes off line and causes a sudden pressure change. But the alarms — which can include flashing lights, sounds or both — also are supposed to trigger immediate follow-up actions to quickly ascertain if anything is wrong.
It’s uncertain why that process dragged out hours in San Pedro Bay, potentially worsening a spill that left some birds coated with oil and has stirred worries about broader environmental impacts.
The cause of the pipeline break just off Los Angeles remains under investigation. Early findings point to a ship anchor possibly catching the line and dragging it across the sea floor, tearing a gash in the half-inch-thick steel pipe.
The timeline of the company’s response appears to contradict statements from Amplify’s CEO, Martyn Willsher, who said Monday that the company first became aware of the spill after receiving a report from a boat of a sheen in the water.
Willsher acknowledged that the company’s equipment was supposed to help detect spills, then said Amplify “did not have any notice that there was a leak” prior to the sheen report.
In documents released Tuesday detailing the company’s actions, federal transportation officials did not comment on the time lag in shutting down the line or reveal any potential explanation that the Amplify executives may have offered.
Company representatives did not respond to messages seeking comment about the delay.
In August, Amplify boasted during a presentation to investors that it had “upgraded infrastructure to detect spills and other failures earlier” and in 2020 had achieved a roughly 50% reduction in spills that needed to be reported.
Before the spill, Amplify had high hopes for the Beta oil field and was pouring millions into upgrades and new drilling projects.
Problems with faulty leak detection procedures have plagued the industry for years, including during a massive 2010 oil spill that polluted 40 miles of Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. In that case, an Enbridge Inc. pipeline leaked at least 843,000 gallons of crude over 17 hours, even as alarms kept going off in a company control room.
The company later settled pollution violations in the case for $176 million.