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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThese Photos of Sea Creatures Soaked by Oil in California Will Break Your Heart
Volunteers fill buckets with oil near Refugio State Beach. Michael A. Mariant/AP
On Tuesday, an oil pipeline burst near Refugio State Beach west of Santa Barbara, California, sending an estimated 105,000 gallons of oil onto the beach. Up to a fifth of that oil is believed to have reached the ocean, Reuters reports.
Now, volunteers and private contractors are racing to clean up the oil. About 6,000 gallons have been collected so far, according to the AP. But damage has already been done. At least two pelicans have been found dead, and five more pelicans and one sea lion were sent for rehabilitation. Biologists have also found many dead fish and lobsters. Local officials have closed the beach at least through Memorial Day, and possibly for "many weeks" after that, one scientist at the scene said.
A young female sea lion affected by the Santa Barbara oil spill receives treatment from the SeaWorld California animal rescue team. Rex Features/AP
The company that owned the pipeline, Plains All American, has one of the country's worst environmental safety records. An analysis by the Los Angeles Times found that the company's rate of incidents per mile of pipeline is more than three times the national average. A spokesperson said the company deeply "regrets this release," but it remains unclear what penalties it could face for this latest accident.
It could be years before the full impact is truly understood, since damage to the ecosystem can sometimes take a while to manifest. Five years after the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, biologists are still tallying the damage.
Here are some of the latest images coming in from the scene:
Refugio State Beach Santa Barbara News-Press/ZUMA
A small crab covered in oil Troy Harvey/ZUMA
Two whales surfaced near an oil slick off Refugio State Beach. Michael A. Mariant/AP
A dead lobster covered in oil on the shoreline Troy Harvey/ZUMA
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/05/these-photos-sea-critters-soaked-oil-california-will-break-your-heart
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These Photos of Sea Creatures Soaked by Oil in California Will Break Your Heart (Original Post)
Playinghardball
May 2015
OP
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)1. they tried to scare off the whales with helicopters
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)2. Hold it, a local poster was making fun
of all this...
Solly Mack
(90,740 posts)3. K&R
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)4. I am going to kick this again for the poster
who claimed all this was just peachy.
deathrind
(1,786 posts)5. Sad.
There really needs to be much more serious and costly penalties to oil companies and the executives of the companies that do not maintain their facilities well enough to prevent this from happening. It should be mandatory that pipelines are double or even triple walled.