LOCAL : Oily Water Sprayed on Freeway as Pipeline Bursts During Test
A rupture this morning in an underground pipeline sent a shower of hot, oily water onto the Golden State Freeway, forcing the California Highway Patrol to close southbound lanes for two hours near the northern Los Angeles County line.
The 5:15 a.m. break, six miles north of Gorman, occurred in a 10-inch-wide pipe that was under high-pressure testing for leaks, said CHP Sgt. Don Perry. The heated crude oil normally pumped through the pipe operated by Four Corners Pipe Line Co. of Lebec had been replaced with a green-dyed fluid containing 97% water and 3% oil for the test, Perry said.
About 110,000 gallons of the fluid leaked from the pipe that is buried in a ditch running alongside the freeway, Perry said. Pressure caused the fluid to shoot 30 feet into the air and onto all four southbound lanes, the CHP said.
Several cars drove through the shower of green liquid before the CHP closed off the freeway. But Perry said no environmental hazard was caused by the spill.
“It is nontoxic, non-hazardous material,” Perry said. “If people got it on their cars they can wash it off.”
The freeway was reopened at 7:15 a.m., Perry said. Caltrans was supervising the cleanup along with the state Department of Fish and Game and Kern County health authorities. Perry said Four Corners will be billed for the cleanup.
The pipeline runs from Bakersfield to Long Beach and is used by Four Corners to deliver oil to an Atlantic Richfield refinery, the CHP said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
