• On Nov. 30, Assemblymember Das Williams (D-Carpinteria), chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and six other members of the Legislature sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) requesting information about the recent Refugio oil spill, which resulted in the spillage of more than 140,000 gallons of oil and affected hundreds of wildlife species.
The letter asks PHMSA to confirm that corrosion caused the failure of Line 901. It also asks for a time frame when PHMSA will release the final accident investigation report, including test results and pictures of the failed section. Finally, the letter requests PHMSA to outline the steps that need to be taken to reclassify Line 901 and Line 903 as intrastate pipelines.
This article appears in Dec 10-17, 2015.
