Latest on California Oil Spill; Governor Declares Emergency

The move Wednesday night from the governor frees up emergency state funding and resources to help in the cleanup efforts.

Also Wednesday, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley says her office, along with the state attorney general, is investigating the pipeline spill for possible criminal prosecution or a finding of civil liability.

The chairman and CEO of the company, Plains Pipeline LP, says he deeply regrets that the incident happened and apologized to residents and visitors affected by it.

The spill occurred Tuesday about 20 miles west of Santa Barbara. A broken onshore pipeline spewed oil down a storm drain and into the Pacific Ocean for several hours before it was shut off.

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2:45 p.m. (PDT)

The company that owns a pipeline that spewed oil into California coastal waters says that under the worst-case scenario, up to 105,000 gallons of crude leaked in the spill.

How much of that ended up in the ocean remains unclear.

The Plains All American Pipeline company says in a statement the current estimate remains 21,000 gallons, but it says that figure is under investigation.

The spill happened Tuesday about 20 miles west of Santa Barbara.

The broken onshore pipeline spewed oil down a storm drain and into the Pacific Ocean for several hours before it was shut off. The spill created two slicks that span about 9 miles.

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1 p.m. (PDT)

An oil industry group says it will review a California oil spill once cleanup is complete to learn from it and try to prevent future spills.

"As an industry, we are always concerned when accidents like this happen," the Western States Petroleum Association said in a statement Wednesday.

The spill happened Tuesday about 20 miles west of Santa Barbara. A broken onshore pipeline spewed oil down a storm drain and into the Pacific Ocean for several hours before it was shut off.

The spill created two slicks in coastal waters that span 9 miles.

The pipeline is owned by Plains All American. It carries crude oil produced by companies operating on the Central Coast and delivers it through a maze of pipes to refineries around the state.

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11:30 a.m. (PDT)

The company that owns the pipeline that broke and spewed oil into the Pacific Ocean says it's still unknown exactly how much oil was lost, but the pipeline was operating at maximum capacity.

Plains All American Pipeline LP official Darren Palmer says the pipeline was running at a rate of 2,000 barrels an hour — equivalent to 84,000 gallons.

Initial estimates put the spill about 20 miles west of Santa Barbara at approximately 21,000 gallons. But U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jennifer Williams has said that figure was likely to change after a flyover provides a better sense of its scope.

She said Wednesday the oil slicks now stretch about 9 miles.

The 24-inch pipeline spewed oil down a storm drain and into the ocean for several hours Tuesday before it was shut off.

On Wednesday, crews fanned out along Refugio State Beach to work on cleanup.

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11 a.m. (PDT)

Oil floating off the California coast after a spill from a broken pipe now stretches about 9 miles.

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jennifer Williams provided the updated figure during a news conference Wednesday in Goleta, California.

She says vessels have deployed three sets of floating booms to try to keep the slicks from spreading, while other boats are skimming oil from the sea surface.

A Coast Guard captain and an Environmental Protection Agency official are the federal coordinators of the response to the spill about 20 miles west of Santa Barbara. That's because it originated on land and then entered the ocean.

Williams says state and local officials are also part of the unified command.

The broken onshore pipeline spewed thousands of gallons of oil down a storm drain and into the Pacific Ocean for several hours Tuesday before it was shut off.

(Story by: The Associated Press)