PLAINS LINE 901 INCIDENT RESPONSE UPDATE FOR JUNE 9, 2015
Plains All American Pipeline provided the following update as cleanup operations continued near Goleta, Calif. This update is for Tuesday, June 9, 2015, and is attributable to Patrick Hodgins, senior director, Safety & Security, Plains All American Pipeline, who is serving as the Plains Incident Commander and its representative within Unified Command.
Plains deeply regrets that this unfortunate accidental release occurred, and we are sorry for the resulting impact to the environment and wildlife, as well as for any disruption caused to residents and visitors. Plains is committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.
Approximately 1,175 people worked on the response across the five work zones and in the Incident Command Post. More than 1,080 people were in the field, and about 95 people, including federal, state and local agency partners, were managing the operations in the command center.
The following is an update on activity in the work zones for Tuesday, June 9.
Water
- Natural seep oil was observed from scheduled NOAA over-flights. This area is prone to natural oil seepage, and the environmental unit is assessing possible sources and testing samples to distinguish natural seepage from the oil spilled from this response.
- 6,100 feet of booms were deployed to capture any sheen and to protect the shore.
- Nearly all the remaining visible pipeline oil remains co-mingled with the rock and cobble. As the tides ebb and flow, we continue to maintain teams on the beach to clean rocks and cobble as this happens.
Beaches
- Five Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) teams – made up of federal, state and third-party scientists trained in assessing shoreline oiling and determining appropriate cleanup methods – conducted their regular shoreline cleanup assessments to direct the deployment of work crews according to cleanup objectives, which were pre-determined by Unified Command for this stage of the recovery efforts.
- Nearly 850 workers contributed to beach cleanup activities. Work crews collected lightly oiled seaweed and kelp from the shoreline as well as manually cleaned oil from the rocks and cobble.
- As of the end of June 9, SCAT teams have determined that 76% of the affected shoreline has met the end-point cleanup objectives. Clean areas will continue to be monitored to determine whether additional work might be necessary.
Bluffs
- In the area west of the southbound 101, work crews continued making progress excavating the oiled soil.
Culvert
- We have completed the initial cleanup and are continuing to monitor the area to determine whether additional work is necessary.
Release Site
- As soon as the remaining activities conclude and testing confirms the oil has been removed from the soil in the area, we will cover the exposed section of pipe with clean soil.
Claims
- For those who have questions or who would like to submit a claim, please call 866-753-3619. We are actively addressing claims as they are received.