Small oil spills are common. Here's why they matter
DiscoveryNews
For those old enough to remember the catastrophic 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, the news on Tuesday that a ruptured pipeline had again spewed crude oil into same coastal waters was an unsettling flashback.
In that horrific accident, the blowout of an undersea well leaked than three million gallons of oil, covering the Pacific with a 35-mile slick and leaving oil-soaked birds dying on sludge-covered beaches. This time, the leak was much smaller — an estimated 21,000 gallons ended up in the ocean — and it quickly divided into two slicks that covered about nine miles of coastline, according to local TV station KSBW. And unlike the 1969 leak, which took a month to plug, the flow from the underground pipeline was stopped about three-and-a-half hours after it was discovered, the Santa Barbara Independent reported.
But even so, the latest spill poses a serious danger to the delicate coastal ecosystem.
“To see this level of spill into such a sensitive and treasured environment is devastating to watch,” Owen Bailey, director of the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center, said in a statement. These waters are known as the Galapagos of North America with numerous species of endangered whales migrating through marine protected areas and off the iconic and beloved Gaviota Coast.”
The Independent reported that some oil-soaked birds and marine animals in distress were discovered at Refugio State Park soon after the accident on Tuesday afternoon, and that helicopters have spotted migrating whales trying to avoid the sheen. Fishing and shellfish harvesting in the area have been shut down. The Los Angeles Times reported that workers in white protective suits, helmets and boots already are at work on local beaches, laboriously shoveling oil-tainted sand into plastic bags.
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But CRS noted that in addition to ruptured pipelines and tanker and oil platform accidents, an even larger amount of oil flows insidiously into coastal waters from small leaks and spills by commercial and passenger vehicles, recreational boats and other sources. Though it’s unclear exactly how much oil goes into the ocean from routine runoff, estimates range as high as 588 million gallons annually.
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