Crude Oil Leak in CA Residential Neighborhood
Just saw this on the local news. It looks horrible and must smell bad. One of the residents complained about the smell and said it was not healthy, that it was "toxic".
In the second half of the article Phillips 66 says it was only in the street, not near houses and that there was no health hazard. If you look at the video you can see there's a lot of oil coming up through the cracks in the street. The houses are right there, I'm sure the oil is spreading underneath.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't believe Phillips 66's PR.
There is speculation that it could have been the earthquake, but Wilmington is about 30-34 miles from the epicenter and it wasn't a huge quake. Seems to me that if the pipe were in good working order it would have withstood that, especially since it is in earthquake country where there are strict codes in place. Well, at least for us residential homeowners there are.
On TV Congresswoman Janice Hahn asked who is responsible for inspecting these (underground) pipes? CBS left that part out of their internet article.
Video at link. (I don't know if it's the same piece I saw on TV)
March 18, 2014 7:50 AM
WILMINGTON (CBSLA.com) —
...
Hazmat units with the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to reports of oil flowing through cracks in the asphalt on the 1200 north block of Neptune Avenue at 7:00 p.m. Monday night, according to fire officials.
CBS2′s Joy Benedict reports neighbors started seeing liquid Monday afternoon and at first believed it to be water. They later contacted the fire department after realizing the liquid was, in fact, crude oil.
...
Once the oil flow on the street was stopped, various county health and hazmat services were dispatched to the location, along with crews to repair the broken pipe and cap the source of the leak, officials said.
It was not immediately known how many gallons of oil have flowed from the leak as of early Tuesday morning.
Crews reportedly drilled small holes in the street to get a better look at the seepage in the neighborhood, which is adjacent to the Wilmington Oil Field – one of the largest oil fields in the continental United States – and near several refineries, the Associated Press reported.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/03/18/crews-mop-up-oil-leak-in-wilmington-after-possible-pipe-rupture/
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