An Oil Spill Fouls the California Coastline

Alan Taylor
May 20, 2015
17 Photos
In Focus

An oil pipeline burst yesterday, spilling an estimated 21,000 gallons (79,500 liters) of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean near Santa Barbara, California. The oil slick spread at least four miles along Refugio State Beach by sunset, as emergency response and cleanup crews converged on the scene. The pipeline was secured hours after the discovery of the spill, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Hints: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

An oil slick spreads along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, California, after an oil pipeline ruptured on May 19, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more
An oil refinery is seen near an oil slick along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, California on May 19, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more
Workers clean up an oil leak that caused a slick in the Pacific Ocean along the coast of Refugio State Beach on May 19, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more
An oil slick along the coast of Refugio State Beach on May 19, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more
Oil spreads along the coast of Refugio State Beach on May 19, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more
Oil booms are deployed to contain the oil slick off Refugio State Beach in Goleta, California, on May 19, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more
The Channel Islands are seen in the distance as an oil slick covers the ocean near Refugio State Beach on May 19, 2015. #

David McNew / Getty Images

Read more
Spilled oil covers Refugio State Beach on May 19, 2015. #

David McNew / Getty Images

Read more
Spilled oil covers stones on the beach north of Goleta, California, on May 19, 2015. #

David McNew / Getty Images

Read more
Spilled oil washes up on Refugio State Beach on May 19, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more
Local residents Josh Marsh (left) and Morgan Miller scan the oil-covered rocks at Refugio State Beach for animals who may have been affected by an oil spill caused by a pipeline rupture, in Goleta, California, on May 19, 2015. #

Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images

Read more
Spilled oil covers a resident's boot at Refugio State Beach on May 19, 2015. #

Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images

Read more
Clean up workers place shovels of oil-laden sand in bags while a larger group of workers begin clean up operations at Refugio State Beach on May 20, 2015. #

Michael A. Mariant / AP

Read more
A lobster covered in oil, along the coast of Refugio State Beach on May 20, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more
Kristen Karnes, an air monitor with the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, takes readings at the site of an underground oil pipeline break near Refugio State Beach on May 20, 2015. #

Michael A. Mariant / AP

Read more
Workers clean up an oil slick along the coast of Refugio State Beach in front of an oil platform in Goleta, California, on May 20, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more
A bird covered in oil flies over an oil slick along the California coastline near Santa Barbara, California, on May 20, 2015. #

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Read more