A crude oil spill in East Los Angeles after a pipeline rupture shut down an intersection for six hours early Friday morning, with firefighters responding around 3:20 a.m. and officials working to contain and measure the damage.
For nearly six hours, drivers in East Los Angeles were stopped in place after a crude oil spill surged onto Cesar Chavez Avenue following a pipeline rupture early Friday morning.
Los Angeles County firefighters were called around 3:20 a.m. to a hazardous materials incident near East Cesar Chavez Avenue and North Eastern Avenue. Los Angeles County Fire Captain Aaron Katon said. Crews arrived to find oil leaking after a crew boring a 6-inch hole about 10 feet underground to lay fiber-optic cable hit a pipeline running at roughly the same depth.
That line transports crude oil from Kern County to the Port of Los Angeles. Katon said the leak was about five gallons per second. The amount was significant enough that oil entered the storm drain.
The pipeline operator shut down the pipeline within 30 minutes. Firefighters and other crews moved quickly to contain the spill, and officials began focusing on protecting the environment. Teams are measuring the extent of the flows and coordinating with collaborating agencies, Katon said.
It’s too early to estimate how much crude oil was released. Crews are expected to remain on scene for hours.
As cleanup and containment efforts continued, the California Highway Patrol issued an alert around 7:30 a.m. saying the intersection was closed in all directions for six hours.
East Los Angeles crude oil spill pipeline rupture Cesar Chavez Avenue North Eastern Avenue hazardous materials fiber-optic cable storm drain Kern County Port of Los Angeles California Highway Patrol Los Angeles County Fire
So six hours and people just sat there? Wild.
I don’t get how they hit the pipeline boring for fiber optic and it turns into crude oil everywhere. That’s messed up. Hope the storm drains didn’t get ruined.
Wait it said the leak was like five gallons per second?? That seems like a lot but also not? Like, is that per second for the whole time or just when they first found it. Also why is it always Kern County oil like 20 miles away can just do this.
This is why I don’t trust “pipeline maintenance” like it’s some harmless work. Fiber cable boring sounds innocent until it isn’t. If it shut down within 30 minutes then shouldn’t the damage be minimal?? Feels like they’re downplaying it because they don’t know yet.