The Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has sent investigators from the Western Regional Office to the scene of a crude oil pipeline spill in Santa Barbara County, California. On Tuesday, May 19, at approximately 1:30 p.m. PDT, a spill was reported from a 24-inch onshore pipeline operated by Plains All American Pipeline L.P. An estimated 500 BBLs (or approximately 21,000 gallons) of heavy crude oil being transported from offshore production facilities was released near Refugio State Park in Santa Barbara County, California. PHMSA has regulatory oversight for this pipeline. A Unified Command has been established, led by the U.S. Coast Guard and PHMSA is coordinating with other federal, state and local officials at the scene. The operator has isolated and shut down a segment of the pipeline and deployed oil spill response personnel and equipment. Four PHMSA inspectors are currently at the scene of the incident and will investigate the cause of the crude oil pipeline release, the condition of the pipeline and any potential regulatory violations.

PHMSA develops and enforces regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the nation's 2.6 million mile pipeline transportation system and the nearly 1 million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea, and air. PHMSA's safety jurisdiction over pipelines covers more than 3,000 gathering, transmission, and distribution operators as well as some 52,000 master meter and liquefied natural gas (LNG) operators who own and/or operate approximately 1.6 million miles of gas pipelines, in addition to over 200 operators and an estimated 155,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines.