Touring cleanup efforts this Tuesday at Refugio State Beach — where on May 19 an estimated 143,000 gallons of oil spilled from a corroded pipe operated by Plains All American Pipeline — U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and Congressmember Lois Capps spoke in favor of holding Plains and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to higher safety standards in order to protect the California coastline.
Capps first spoke of the “terrible toll” the Refugio Oil Spill has taken on the Santa Barbara community, acknowledging that lax federal safety standards played a large role in the incident. She expressed that she continues to work “vigilantly” to pressure both Plains and PHMSA into adopting new regulations to prevent history from repeating itself.
Both Boxer and Capps pointed to many unanswered questions for PHMSA and Plains, such as why a corroded pipeline was still in operation and why Plains waited nearly an hour and a half after the incident — over three hours after employees first noticed pressure irregularities — to launch an emergency response.