Spate of Greka Energy spills hit North County

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A string of oil spills at Greka Energy leases throughout Santa Barbara County yesterday prompted local fire officials to order the closure of at least two facilities and added fuel to a growing fire of criticism surrounding the spill-plagued company.
The spills were most severe at the UCAL lease on Dominion Road near Santa Maria, where a California Fish & Game official said three separate spills occurred.

“All instances appear to be very minor,” said Joshua Curtis, an environmental specialist with the Department of Fish and Game. But “three separate spills on one lease in one day. We’re not very happy about that.”
County Fire Capt. Eli Iskow said one of the spills at the UCAL site involved an undetermined amount of spilled kerosene distillate, which is used to thin oil. He said this product was spilled into the ground and parking lot area there.
“There are no immediate threats to the public and most of the issues are currently static,” Iskow said. “The incidents involve poor maintenance and failed equipment, including inoperable injection pumps, failed alarms, tank over-flows and other failures.”
Phone messages left for Greka officials last night seeking comment were not immediately returned to the Daily Sound.
In the past two months, 200,000 gallons of crude oil has spilled onto local ground and into creeks at Greka facilities located in North County. The spate of spills prompted the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 15 to begin drafting ordinances that will eventually clamp down on Greka and other energy companies that spill on a regular basis.
First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal, one of the most outspoken critics of the Greka spills, said last night that enough is enough.
"I think this is just over the top," Carbajal said. "This just continues to show that we have a disaster that has occurred and continues to widen and I think we really need to look at other options."
The supervisor, who is chair of the board, wasn't shy about what other options he has in mind.
"This is unconscionable and ridiculous," he said. "I am frustrated that we can't shut down the entire operation like I would like to shut them down."
Carbajal said he plans to discuss all of the options with county legal counsel today.
Iskow said the other incidents yesterday were at Greka facilities on the Bell lease on Palmer Road, the Davis lease on Zaca Station Road and the Bradley 3 Island facility on Telephone Road.
Curtis said yesterday’s incidents at the Davis and Bell leases, which were both locations of massive spills in the past two months and were already shut down, were the result of residual oil left over from the larger spills.
In the case of the Zaca Station Road location, which is located near Firestone Vineyard, Curtis said rain waters carried oil further down the creek it originally flowed into on Jan. 5.
He said all of yesterday’s incidents appear to be related to heavy rains that have fallen over the past two days.
“We don’t know if they had pumping systems in place that weren’t working or what happened,” Curtis said.
While the spattering of incidents may or may not have been compounded by the weather, Iskow said it’s raining all over the county and other energy and gas companies aren’t having issues like Greka are.
“We’re not getting this from the other oil companies and they’re all getting the same rain,” he said.