A pipeline failure early Friday morning spilled more than 4,000 gallons of oil and contaminated wastewater in southern Monterey County, according to a state emergency notification.
Private cleanup crews were dispatched to the San Aldo oil field and the field was “contained to the immediate area,” field operator Aera Energy said in a report. No injuries were reported.
Aera Energy could not be reached for comment Friday.
Crews were at the scene performing maintenance work on an 8-inch oil line when 96 barrels of crude oil and wastewater leaked around 7 a.m., according to a hazardous materials report filed with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Aera Energy reportedly shut off the flow to the line to stop the release.
The spill occurred near Sargent Creek, just about a mile upstream from its confluence with the Salinas River. The Salinas River is an important source of drinking water and irrigation for the Salinas Valley and much of the Central Coast. There was no direct impact on waterways as of Friday morning, but the material had spread into the surrounding soil, the report said.
State officials have not yet released an estimate of how much soil will need to be removed. CalOES did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The spill comes amid a series of recent oil releases in California, including in Ventura County, as crews battled in stormy weather to contain oil that entered waterways.
Environmentalists say incidents like this highlight the risks posed by aging fossil fuel infrastructure.
“Over the past few weeks, we have seen numerous examples of how oil production threatens California’s communities and water supplies,” Hollin Kretzman, staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, said in a statement. “California needs to divest from producing dirty fossil fuels as quickly as possible.”
