CALIFORNIA — Crews are working to clean up after an oil spill that occured Tuesday in Santa Barbara County.
Some 21,000 gallons of oil off the California shore leaked, according to Officials. Wildlife, including pelicans, have been found coated in oil with one bird found dead on the beach. At least one animal, a bird, was found dead.
Five pelicans are receiving care at rehabilitation facility. Teams are still out working to collect additional birds.
Two slicks were seen from the air, nine miles wide.
Some Officials said there’s a potential that far more oil leaked into the Pacific ocean through the faulty pipeline with a worst case scenario at 105,000 gallons.
Almost 300 responders responded to this crude oil spill. In addition, 18 boats are doing on-water recovery, the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response said.
Today, CDFW-OSPR deployed 54 people: 28 on-scene, 13 in the Sacramento operations center, 15 traveling to the command post on site.
MORE: Crews were initially called about a strong odor at Refugio Beach around noon Tuesday.
From NBC-LA: “Aerial footage showed that the spill may have happened in a portion of the pipeline above ground on land near the beach and made its way down to the sand and into the water.
Representatives from the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management, Exxon and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department are on scene of the spill.
The leak has been stopped, a Coast Guard spokesman said.”
The incident was unfolding about 20 miles west of Santa Barbara and prompted authorities to shut down access to the affected beaches.
Refugio State Beach is a protected state beach park located 20 miles west of Santa Barbara, California. It is 2.5 miles west of El Capitán State Beach.
During the summer months, the Junior Life Guard program resides at the beach during the day.
Photos via @WNTonight/Twitter
