AnonymousSource: Santa Barbara County Public Works
Santa Barbara County and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) have completed their coordinated effort of an oil cleanup at Toro Canyon Creek northeast of Summerland.
The coordinated efforts began with work to control a leak in a pipe connected to an oil and water separator facility at the site on July 6, which was contained by mid-July. Cleanup within the creek was completed on August 27. An estimated 420 to 630 gallons of oil that traveled approximately 300 yards was removed from the channel with absorbents, pressure washing, vacuuming, and disposal of oiled vegetation. The next phase will extend for three additional months for occasional monitoring and maintenance of protective measures in place. In addition, the County will work with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Lake and Streambed Alteration Program and other State agencies to remediate portions of the creek bed and bank that were affected.
The CDFW Oiled Wildlife Care Network team recovered 92 oiled frogs in the area, which were cleaned and cared for by the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network. After receiving clean bills of health, all of the frogs were returned on August 27, 2021. Deceased animals collected include 17 small birds, 13 bats and a squirrel.
The oil is from natural seepage emerging from a well three miles north of Highway 101 that the Occidental Mining and Petroleum Company built in 1882. The Environmental Protection Agency retrofitted the site to prevent seepage in the 1990s by building the oil and water separator facility at the well. The County has monitored and maintained that facility since 2009. The County is working with federal and state officials on long-term system improvements.
