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Coast Guard Releases Review Of Its Handling Of Santa Barbara County Oil Spill

May, 2015 Oil Spill At Refugio State Beach Dumped More Than 140,000 Gallons Of Oil Into Ocean

The U.S. Coast Guard released a report on its handling of last year’s Santa Barbara County oil spill, with a number of recommendations for deal with future incidents. The report says among the lessons to be learned include the deployment of more personnel to handle management of a spill, and developing ways to integrate non- governmental agencies into cleanup efforts. It calls for the assignment of an attorney to help deal with the legal issues which develop during an incident like a major spill. And, the report suggests the assignment of an external affairs officer to work with local officials and agencies. Last May’s rupture of an oil pipeline at Refugio State Beach spilled more than 140,000 gallons of oil, and it took months to clean up the area’s beaches. Federal investigators are still working on their final report on what led to the accident.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.