Photos of ruptured oil pipeline provide clues of spill cause

Source: AP

By BRIAN MELLEY

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Photos of the pipeline that spilled oil on the Santa Barbara coast show extensive corrosion and provide clues about the cause of the rupture, experts said.

Corrosion visible around the crack, coupled with wear documented inside the pipe, led Robert Bea, a civil engineering professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, to believe the pipe burst during a pressure spike when the operator restarted pumps that had failed the morning of the May 19 spill.

The pictures released to The Associated Press on Monday under a California Public Records Act request show the 6-inch tear that spewed up to 101,000 gallons of oil, polluting beaches, and killing hundreds of birds and marine mammals.

Plains All American Pipeline has declined to discuss the cause of the spill while it's being investigated by federal regulators and local, state and U.S. prosecutors. The pipeline operator has apologized for the spill and is paying cleanup costs that have exceeded $60 million.

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In this May 28, 2015 photo from the County of Santa Barbara, investigators measure and photograph the about 8-inches-long break where a pipeline ruptured, spilling thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean on May 19, polluting beaches and killing hundreds of birds and marine mammals north of Goleta, Calif. The pictures released to The Associated Press on Monday, June 15, 2015 under a California Public Records Act request show the 8-inch tear that spilled up to 101,000 gallons of oil. Civil engineer Robert Bea says the amount of corrosion visible and the documented wear inside the pipe lead him to believe the pipe burst during a pressure spike when the operator restarted pumps that had failed earlier in the day.(Bruce Reitherman/County of Santa Barbara via AP)



In this May 28, 2015 photo from the County of Santa Barbara, investigators measure and photograph the point where a pipeline ruptured, spilling thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean on May 19, polluting beaches and killing hundreds of birds and marine mammals north of Goleta, Calif. An engineer says photos of the pipeline that spilled oil on the Santa Barbara coast show extensive corrosion and provide clues about the rupture's cause. (Bruce Reitherman/County of Santa Barbara via AP)

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