As East LA oil spill cleanup continues, 3 companies cited for violations related to incident

With the cleanup of thousands of gallons of oil from a spill last month ongoing, three companies have been cited for violations related to the incident.

On May 22, Camarillo Drilling was conducting drilling operations for a fiber optic line on behalf of HP Communications near the intersection of E. Cesar Chavez and Eastern avenues. Crews struck a 16-inch pipeline, which resulted in approximately 24,654 gallons of crude oil dumping into the street and storm drains — more than 10 times the initial estimates made by first responders at the time of the incident.

The oil soon made its way to Long Beach, where crews were seen cleaning up the river between Willow Street and Pacific Coast Highway.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District responded to three public complaints the day of the spill, including one report of a strong petroleum odor at Esteban E. Torres High School. Inspectors confirmed the odor and traced it back to the spill site, according to a June 18 press release.

In all, the agency received seven complaints related to the incident.

Following its investigation, AQMD issued both companies, as well as project management company Arcadian Infracom, with notices of violation under its Rule 402 and the California Health and Safety Code Section 41700, which prohibit “emissions that cause injury, nuisance, or annoyance to a considerable number of persons or to the public.”

“NOVs can result in civil penalties,” AQMD stated. “In some cases, facilities may take voluntary actions to reduce emissions or, otherwise, prevent future violations. If no settlement is reached, a civil lawsuit may be filed in superior court.”

In an email Monday, HP Communications said it is aware of the violation notice and that it is cooperating with all agencies involved. But the company has not accepted responsibility for its part in the environmental disaster, saying “the underlying causes of this incident have not yet been fully investigated or determined.”

“A Notice of Violation is an allegation, not a finding of fault, and the facts surrounding this incident remain under review,” the company wrote, adding that its own review “has identified significant concerns regarding whether the affected crude oil pipeline was properly marked by other parties within the designated work area as required through California's USA/DigAlert system.”

In a June 17 email, a spokesperson for Pacific Pipeline System, which owns and operates the pipeline, said the company does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Arcadia Infracom did not respond to request for comment.

During a brief phone call Monday, before being asked any questions or told what the call was regarding, a representative for Camarillo Drilling said they could not comment without having a lawyer present.

This is not the first time Camarillo Drilling has hit a pipeline, according to a February report from the California Department of Water Resources. The department alleges that the company punctured the Santa Ana Pipeline in Riverside on April 30, 2020 while performing the same type of drilling operation as in last month’s incident.

The Department of Water Resources filed a complaint with the Riverside County Superior Court on April 29, 2022 seeking $1.2 million in damages. As of February of this year, the case was in the discovery phase, with the department expecting it to go to mediation.

In the recent spill, oil made its way around 18 miles from the site of the incident to the Pacific Coast Highway bridge over the LA River in Long Beach, but no farther, officials said.

“Throughout the response, no oil has been observed south of the Pacific Coast Highway bridge,” a California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson said in a June 17 email. “Based on the significant cleanup progress made to date, [a] containment boom in the river channel has been removed south of Imperial Highway.”

As of June 18, 166 birds — 131 alive and 35 dead — affected by the oil spill have been identified by the Oiled Wildlife Care Network out of UC Davis. The most impacted species were the mallard duck (107), Canada goose (20) and the black-necked stilt (15), according to the network.

Two red-eared sliders, a semi-aquatic freshwater turtle and popular pet, have also been recovered alive, according to OWCN. 

On June 10, the group released its first group of washed and rehabilitated birds back into the wild, including 28 mallards and a Brewer’s blackbird.

“While release day is what the public sees, it represents weeks of work behind the scenes,” the group said in a Facebook post. “From field recovery and transport to stabilization, veterinary care, washing, rehabilitation, and release planning, every bird’s journey benefited from the care and expertise of responders across the Oiled Wildlife Care Network.”

Following Watchdog reporting that the oil spill had reached Long Beach, many social media commenters expressed concern for a local group of endangered green sea turtles. But those turtles do not live in the LA River, according to Aquarium of the Pacific spokesperson Cassandra Davis.

“We’ve had a couple of observations in the area and we’ve not recorded the population in the LA River that we have in the San Gabriel River,” Davis said in a phone interview Monday.

The turtles have been in the San Gabriel River since at least 2008 and have had large-scale monitoring since 2012, Davis said.

While the impacts on other wildlife is tragic, Davis said it’s fortunate the sea turtles were not impacted by the oil spill because “it's magical that we get to have these spaces where we share them with wildlife, and we're reminded that we're sharing this planet.”