California oil spill sparks state of emergency - Assignment Example

n California sparked state of emergency, which led the State’s governor to declare an emergency due to the hazardous effects that were posed by the spillage. The State of California organized a cleanup activity to remove the oil from the surrounding and make the marine environment safer. The oil spillage in California occurred at a place near Santa Barbara. That spillage resulted from an onshore pipeline that ruptured. It was officially communicated that the pipe broke at the time when it was running at full capacity, and it was feared that about one hundred and five thousand gallons might have spilled.

Out of the spilled oil, approximately twenty-one thousand gallons may have reached the ocean. An official from the Plains American Pipeline that owns the pipeline Darren Palmer said that the running rate of the pipe at the time of spillage was approximated to be eighty-four thousand gallons per hour. The pipeline was built over two decades ago and had been serviced and tested some weeks before the spillage. The environment specialists have raised concerns over the dangers posed by the accident to the whales, birds and fish.

The company official said that they will handle the spill and will cater for the incurred costs at the time of removing oil from the surrounding. The spill occurred in the same area as the one that happened in 1991, which resulted in the beginning American Environmental Movement (New moves in U.S to limit oil spillage, 2011). That incident led to several hundred thousand liters of oil spewed out from an oil platform. The accident resulted in the death of many seabirds and other marine mammals.

This recent spillage was first noted on Tuesday when the authorities received information about the foul smell close to Refugio Beach around the midday. The emergency team that responded found that the oil had spilled for over half mile in the ocean. After the confirmation that the menace was an oil spillage, they traced the oil to rapture on the