Greka Energy ordered to clean up Santa Barbara site

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Greka Energy Corp. is in trouble with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency again. This time, the federal watchdog has ordered the company to develop a plan to clean up PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, at its Bradley 3 Island.

The PCBs apparently came from three transformers on a utility pole that fell during a rainstorm in January, according to the EPA. Contamination spread to a nearby creek that is a habitat for the endangered tiger salamander, the agency said.

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Greka was ordered to investigate cleanup remedies and hire contractors to clean it up.

PCBs take decades to degrade and are suspected carcinogens. They are stored in fatty tissue and slowly released into the blood stream. Shorter-term health hazards include irritation to the eyes, nose, throat, and skin. High, acute exposures can damage the liver, and in some extreme cases, cause death.