Broken Pipe Spills Diesel Into Marsh

A pipeline that carries petroleum from refineries in the Bay Area ruptured and spilled an estimated 40,000 gallons of diesel fuel into a marsh that serves as a key nesting ground for migratory birds, officials said Thursday.

The spill, which began Tuesday, prompted an emergency cleanup effort at Suisun Marsh, about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco.

The accident was not expected to affect fuel supplies in California, state officials said.

A worst-case scenario had initially put the damage at 1 million gallons of spilled fuel, said Mark Merchant, a spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But state officials later reduced the estimate to about 40,000 gallons.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, the Houston firm that owns the pipeline, estimated that 500 to 1,000 barrels -- each containing 42 gallons of fuel -- had leaked into the marsh, said spokesman Jerry Engelhardt.

The spill was mostly contained by Thursday, and was limited to a diked area of roughly 600 acres, so the fuel couldn’t easily escape to the rest of the marsh, officials said.

About 50 workers from county, state and federal agencies were working Thursday to assess the damage and contain the spill, which left a sheen over the top of the water.

The Coast Guard and state Department of Fish and Game were leading the effort.

Several dead animals, mostly ducks, were found at the scene, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Clare Maranda.

The pipeline ruptured Tuesday. Kinder Morgan workers noticed a drop in pipeline pressure about 6 p.m. and immediately shut down a section of it, Engelhardt said.

Company officials went to the site of the spill Wednesday morning, and then contacted state and federal officials, who arrived at the marsh that afternoon, he said.

“We’re working with all the agencies to get things cleaned up as quickly as possible,” Engelhardt said. “We’re working as quickly as possible to restore service to the line.”

The broken section of the pipeline should be replaced and back in service by Saturday, but it could take several weeks or even months to completely clean up the spill, Engelhardt said.

Kinder Morgan’s pipeline transports fuel from Bay Area refineries owned by major oil companies, such as Arco, British Petroleum, Chevron and Shell.

The ruptured pipeline carries different types of fuel to Chico, Reno and Sacramento.

The Suisun Marsh area is considered the state’s second-largest natural marsh, said Greg Green, a biologist for Memphis, Tenn.-based Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands conservation group.

But it also is a highly managed area, with large sections of the marsh diked off to control the flow of water.