Oil-covered birds rescued after pipeline rupture sends crude into L.A. River
Wildlife officials said this weekend that they had found multiple birds covered in oil after the rupture of an East Los Angeles pipeline Friday caused crude oil to spill into storm drains and flow into the Los Angeles River.
The birds were removed from the river and taken to the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care and Education Center in San Pedro to be treated and cleaned, according to a statement Saturday from the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, a collective of wildlife emergency response organizations and universities.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response said in a statement Sunday evening that 25 birds had been rescued.
The rupture was reported around 3:20 a.m. Friday near East Cesar Chavez and North Eastern avenues, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
A telecommunications crew boring a 6-inch hole 10 feet underground to lay fiber-optic cable hit a pipeline that runs beneath the street and transports crude oil from Kern County to the Port of Los Angeles, L.A. County Fire Capt. Aaron Katon said.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-24/oil-covered-birds-rescued-pipeline-rupture-la-river