Pipeline Firm Couldn't Reach Staff at California Spill Site

The costs of cleaning up last month's oil pipeline spill on California's coast has hit $92 million for the pipeline operator, the Associated Press reports.

Pipeline Firm Couldn't Reach Staff at California Spill Site
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — As thousands of gallons of crude oil from a ruptured pipeline spread along the California coast, its operator was unable to contact workers near the break to get information the company needed to alert federal emergency officials, records released Wednesday said.

Personnel for Plains All American Pipeline needed the precise location of the May 19 spill and an estimate of its size before notifying the National Response Center, according to the records released to federal elected officials.

Company workers at the site near Santa Barbara were contending with "immediate demands and distractions" and couldn't be reached by Plains personnel based in Bakersfield, the documents said.

One of the workers, along with firefighters, used shovels to try to construct a makeshift berm to slow the oil's spread. The company's account said workers also made "various calls by cellphone to mobilize resources, make notifications and coordinate activities."

It wasn't clear from the records why company personnel in Bakersfield couldn't reach their workers at the scene.

The Texas-based pipeline company has faced criticism for how long it took to relay information to the federal government on the break estimated at up to 101,000 gallons, even though its internal planning documents repeatedly stress the importance of notifying the government of a leak as quickly as possible.

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