Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Santa Barbara County on Wednesday due to a major oil spill just north of Refugio State beach the day before.
A representative from Plains All American Pipeline, which operates the broken pipe, confirmed Wednesday that — “worst case scenario” — 105,000 gallons of crude spilled from the underground pipe. By Wednesday, the slick had spread out in many directions to cover nine square miles of ocean, and it will continue to disperse over time due to winds and currents.
Plains pipeline operations director Rich McMichael said Wednesday evening that two of the company’s pumps had problems on Tuesday morning. He said the pump was shut down at about 11:30 a.m. after employees noticed a “pressure anomaly.”