Oil Spill in the Channel

Though details remain sketchy, the United States Coast Guard confirmed this morning that late on Sunday, December 7, an oil spill near Platform A in the Santa Barbara Channel – roughly six miles offshore of Summerland – spewed an estimated 27 barrels of oil (which is approximately 1,134 gallons) into the ocean.

According to Doug Anthony, deputy director of the Santa Barbara County Energy Division, response teams from the U.S. Coast Guard, California Fish and Game, and the federal government’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) are currently responding to the incident and have 11 boats on the scene. About 15 to 20 of the spilled barrels are believed to have already been recovered. Still, according to MMS, the size of the oil slick is 1.5 miles long and 200 feet wide and it is headed due east toward Ventura County. There have been no reported impacts to wildlife.

Platform A is the site of the historic hemorrhage of 1969 which sent more than 1 million gallons of crude into the Pacific and is widely considered to have been the mishap that gave birth to the modern day environmental movement.

Stay tuned to Independent.com for more reporting on this incident as details become available.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the size of the spill was 2,000 feet across. It is 200 feet wide.