Crude Oil Is Found Seeping Into Creeks : Environment: Recent earthquakes are to blame, experts say. They fear the natural leak will harm fragile wildlife habitat.

More than 60 barrels of crude oil have been found in creeks in the Ventura County mountains in the past two weeks, the result of a natural seepage that authorities believe was triggered by recent earthquakes.

The oil, discovered July 8 in tributaries of the Santa Clara River, was removed before it could cause significant environmental damage, said Dave Schmidt, a spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. So far, only insects and a few small animals have died, he said.

But Schmidt said the seepage is continuing at the rate of one to two gallons per hour. He and other environmental officials said if it is not checked, they fear it could eventually affect the habitat of two endangered species: a fish called the unarmored threespine stickleback and a bird known as the least Bell’s vireo.

“It’s not a major spill, but we are concerned about any amount of oil that enters state waters, particularly because of the endangered species in that area,” said Roger Reese, a captain with the wildlife protection branch of the state Department of Fish and Game.

The oil apparently entered Tapo Creek and other streams that feed into the river near the Los Angeles County line on land owned by the Newhall Land & Farming Co. Unocal Corp., which drills for oil in the area, helped the Department of Fish and Game erect dams to check the oil flow.

“We were never blamed for it,” Unocal spokesman Barry Lane said. “It was just as with anything, if there’s a pipeline leak, we’ll respond to it and determine whose it is later.”

Workers contracted by the EPA will continue to pump oil from the containment dams as long as is necessary, Schmidt said.

But officials said they have not determined how they will pay for the cleanup. Because the oil comes from a natural seep, the cleanup effort is ineligible for funding through traditional federal or state channels, officials said.

“There’s no federal or state money . . . but there may be some other funds that can be tapped,” Schmidt said. “We don’t know yet.”

Cat Brown, wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Ventura, said officials will find some way to protect the environment. “No one is at fault and there may not be federal or state funds to clean this up, but certainly we’ll find a way to divert the oil away from the stream, because that’s such a valuable wildlife habitat,” Brown said.

Brown and other biologists have been walking the creek and river banks this week, looking for signs of danger or damage to animals. So far, the deaths of about 40 water beetles, a mouse and several birds called killdeer have been attributed to the oil, officials said.

Investigators initially were unsure of the seep’s cause but now believe earthquakes are responsible, Schmidt said. Two quakes, registering 7.5 and 6.6 on the Richter scale, struck Southern California on June 28, and several temblors of lesser force have occurred since.

Reese said his department will probably recommend that the natural seepage be permanently contained. “I think that our recommendation is going to be to clean it up and to install some permanent facility to separate the oil and water,” Reese said.

Schmidt agreed that some permanent solution is needed, “especially in view of the complications of the rainfall expected this fall,” Schmidt said. “It will wash more of the oil off the mountains and into the creeks,” he said.

Natural Oil Seep More than 60 barrels of oil have been removed from Ventura County waterways after recent earthquakes apparently caused a natural oil seep near where Tapo Creek empties into the Santa Clara River.