Edhat Staff
Photos: Santa Barbara County Fire Department
By edhat staff
Santa Barbara County firefighters responded to a small oil spill in the Lompoc Valley early Wednesday morning.
At 3:45 a.m., the fire department received a report of an oil spill in the 3900 block of Rucker Road. When firefighters arrived at the facility they found crew members on scene mitigating the spill.
There were four barrels with one barrel outside of containment that leaked in the spill. It appears to be caused by a failed gasket on a pump, said SBCFD Captain Daniel Bertucelli.
Oil and gas representatives responded to the scene with a vacuum truck and other heavy equipment.
There is no public safety threat at this time.
This place was supposed to be shut down in 2000. Instead, the county allowed them to intensify their work, going from a separation plant to a processing plant. it’s on its 5th owner, at least. They process sludge and deal with very high levels of H2S. Ironically, PXP was probably its most attentive owner. Present owner is another small pockets group so if there is a major event, they will just declare bankruptcy and walk away from it.