Pipeline firm told California oil spill 'extremely unlikely'

Source: AP

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AND BRIAN MELLEY

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Texas company whose ruptured pipeline created the largest coastal oil spill in California in 25 years had assured the government that a break in the line while possible was "extremely unlikely" and state-of-the-art monitoring could quickly detect possible leaks and alert operators, documents show.

Nearly 1,200 pages of records, filed with state regulators by Plains All American Pipeline, detail a range of defenses the company established to guard against crude oil spills and, at the same time, prepare for the worst should a spill occur.

The company acknowledged the potential for oil to leak from the 24-inch, 10.6-mile-long pipeline west of Santa Barbara. A team of experts organized by the company, however, assessed that risk as remote, according to the records, known as a spill response plan, and were released under the state's public records act.

"The pipeline and its operation are state-of-the-art," asserted the analysis submitted to the state. "Spills are still possible, though extremely unlikely."

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FILE - In this May 21, 2015 file photo, David Ledig, a national monument manager from the Bureau of Land Management, walks past rocks covered in oil at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif. Plains All American Pipeline, the Texas company whose ruptured pipeline created the largest coastal oil spill in California in 25 years, had assured the government that a break in the line was "extremely unlikely" and state-of-the-art monitoring could quickly detect possible leaks and alert operators, documents show. Nearly 2,000 pages of records filed with state regulators by the company detail an extensive range of defenses the company established to guard against crude oil spills and, at the same time prepare for the worst should a spill occur. The 6-inch breach along a badly corroded section of the line loosed up to 101,000 gallons of crude oil last month, blackening beaches and creating a 9-mile ocean slick.(AP Photo/Jae Hong, File)

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