On Jan. 19, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to a reported oil spill at Greka Oil and Gas Inc.’s Bradley Land Lease off of Telephone Road in Santa Maria. According to a press release from the fire department, the leak was caused by a faulty pipe fixture on one of the flow lines that feeds the Bradley Three Island facility. Greka employees estimated that approximately 840 gallons of crude oil and produced water sprayed onto an agricultural field. The spill oozed 700 feet before pooling next to a dirt service road.
Greka employees shut down the well feeding the flow line and used a vacuum truck to extract the oily mixture. They’re in the process of removing soil contaminated by the spill. As of last report, the County Fire Hazardous Materials Unit was investigating.
This article appears in Jan 22-29, 2009.
