It’s another strike for Greka Energy Corporation. Saturday morning the Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to a call by an on-scene State Fish and Game officer concerning a leak of natural gas at a Greka facility. Firefighters discovered the leak — along with a Greka employee attempting to stop the leak — in a four-inch pressurized pipeline. The pipeline was depressurized and the natural gas was determined non-toxic, but “explosive and flammable,” according to Captain Eli Iskow.
The State Fish and Game officer also alerted fire officials to a small crude oil spill at a nearby location in the same Greka facility. The spill is undergoing investigation. According to Iskow, the natural gas leak occurred at a facility across the street from the crude oil spill that occurred Dec. 7, all at the Greka Santa Maria facility.
The SB County Fire Department, along with three county divisions, the state Division of Oil and Gas and the State Fish and Game will present a report to the County Board of Supervisors on 1/15 concerning Greka’s future in light of these recent slip-ups.
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Firestone, big oils "man on the board" will no doubt say "these are minor problems and too much is being made over them". Greka "Wrecker" oil is a third rate low budget operation trying to squeeze the last few barrels of oil out at low cost using shoddy safety practices. SHUT THOSE FOOLS DOWN NOW. Re-open when they can prove they have got their act together.
Noletaman (anonymous profile)
December 26, 2007 at 6:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Residents of Santa Barbara County are lucky to even have local agencies on their side enough to cite the violations in the first place. I live in Mussel Shoals where Greka maintains an oil drilling island. The island is run by druggies on crystal meth. Safety violations abound. The bridge right now has a giant hole in it from the recent storm. Nothing is being fixed. The prior manager, Bill Yates, left after decades running the place when Greka took over because he did not want to be responsible for safety. The local fire department and the State Lands Commission do practically nothing when it comes to saftey violations brought to their attention. They claim they have no jurisdiction over having the island manned at all times in order to attend to constant audible alarms. They claim they cannot enforce drug testing. The fire department claims the land is "private property" and they can do nothing. Barbed wires and electrical wires dangle onto a PUBLIC shoreline as I write this. Greka has talked the fire department into thinking that the island is somehow under the protection of "homeland security". What a crock. If the island is a terrorist target, it surely should not be shoddily run by meth heads.
MusselShoalsResident (anonymous profile)
December 29, 2007 at 7:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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