"Response by Operator of Broken Oil Pipeline Faces Scrutiny"

In a letter to pipeline safety regulators, two California Senators called "insufficient" the response of pipeline operators to a large spill near Santa Barbara.

"SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Firefighters, emergency workers and officials from Plains All American Pipeline had gathered last week at a fire station preparing to train for the worst — an oil spill — when a 911 call came in reporting a noxious smell in the air at a nearby beach.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department rushed to the shoreline, where they discovered oil flowing across a beach and into the Pacific. What was supposed to be a drill turned real.

'It was very black. You couldn't see the sand anymore,' fire Capt. Craig Vanderzwaag recalled after arriving at the scene of the leak shortly after noon May 19. 'You could see rolling waves with black oil lapping up on the beach.' ...

In a letter Thursday to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California labeled the response to the spill 'insufficient.' They questioned why the line lacked an automatic shut-off valve, and whether some workers were left on the sidelines while the leak spread."

Brian Melley and Michael R. Blood report for the Associated Press May 28, 2015.