The Santa Barbara County civil grand jury released a report Monday finding that the activation of the county’s Emergency Operations Center in response to the Refugio oil spill was in line with county, state and federal regulations.
The operations center was activated by the county May 21, two days after a pipeline rupture spilled more than 100,000 gallons of oil along the coastline.
Since its construction in 2011, the center previously has been activated for wildfire responses, as well as used in training exercises.
According to the grand jury, questions were raised about personnel from Plains All American Pipeline, the company responsible for the spill, using the operations center as part of the unified command response to the spill.
The report stated some perceived it as a “takeover” of the center by a nongovernmental entity.
However, the grand jury report notes the Santa Barbara County Operational Oil Spill Contingency Plan says that the responsible party -- Plains All American in the case of the Refugio spill -- should be one of four parts of the unified command response to a maritime spill -- the others being the federal on-scene coordinator, the state incident commander and the county of Santa Barbara.
The report notes having the responsible party as a member of the unified command is because it is responsible for the costs, and having its officials on hand with the ability to authorize expenses can expedite logistical responses.
The lead agency for the spill response was the U.S. Coast Guard. It, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, served as federal on-scene coordinators, while the California Department of Fish and Wildlife was the state coordinator.
“The presence of Plains All American Pipeline in the same room with the federal, state and local on-scene coordinators is understandable and in compliance with federal, state and local regulations and plans,” the report reads.
February 10, 2016
Lompoc Record
By Kyle Harding
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