Southern California oil spill threatens to flow into the Pacific

Approximately 700 barrels of oil streamed from a burst pipeline into a natural waterway near Ventura

Southern California has suffered several oil spills including the 1969 Santa Barbara spill, which at the time was the worst ever recorded in US waters, sending up to 100,000 barrels of crude into the Pacific ((Getty Images))

Around 700 barrels of crude oil gushed into a Southern California waterway on Thursday morning, after a pipeline burst close to the city of Ventura. The pipeline burst at around 5.30am, causing approximately 30,000 gallons of oil to flow into the nearby Prince Barranca, a small waterway that leads to the Pacific.

The pipeline was soon shut down and depressurised, but gravity temporarily maintained the flow of crude, which ran half a mile down the barranca. Fire crews were using bulldozers to bolster an existing natural basin and stop the oil reaching the ocean, officials told the Los Angeles Times.

After initially estimating the amount of oil spilled at 5,000 barrels, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Captain Mike Lindbery tweeted that the total had been revised down to 700. The oil reportedly belongs to Aera Energy, which says on its website that it produces some 13,000 barrels of crude oil per day for refineries in the Los Angeles area.