What is the Impact of the Oil Spill in Santa Barbara
Last week underground oil pipeline located next to a culvert in Santa Barbara ruptured and over 100,000 gallons of oil flowed into the ocean. The Los Angeles newspaper Huffington Post reported on May 27 that there are oil slicks stretching for 9 miles along the coast. So what are the impacts of this spill and what do we need to know regarding human health hazards?
The environmental newsletter Grist reported that UC Santa marine conservation researcher Ben Halpern said the spill will have a “major impact on the local scale” but not on a regional scale. He went on to say that he is hopeful that the majority of the oil will be cleaned up by around mid-June. Earlier today the Federal Government ordered Plains All-American Pipeline to continue its clean-up efforts and the EPA and the Coastguard ordered the company to produce an environmental impact analysis report to them by June 6.
In addition to checking current local news reports before fishing or entering the ocean in Santa Barbara or any other beach along the west coast you can check the water quality grade updated weekly by “Heal the Bay” at http://brc.healthebay.org/.
