PIRU : Work Delayed on Oil Spill Cleanup

Cleanup of a 168,000-gallon oil spill in the Santa Clara River east of Piru was delayed Tuesday as the rain-swollen stream kept most workers at bay.

But berms built to contain the spill within a 12- to 15-mile stretch of the river held, and the rain did not push the sticky crude farther downstream as feared, California Department of Fish and Game officials said.

“We were concerned about the speed of the water and the roads that were muddy and slippery, so we limited the number of hand crews working,” said Lt. Reed Smith, pollution response coordinator for Southern California and supervisor of the cleanup effort. “We’ll be back in full cleanup mode on Wednesday.”

The oil clung to willows, watercress and other vegetation along the banks and in the river wash. In some isolated pools of the river, a heavy sheen was visible. But no longer is the oil floating on the moving water.

Since the Jan. 17 earthquake ruptured a pipeline near Valencia and spilled the oil into the river, crews have vacuumed up about 58,000 gallons of the oil. But Smith said the Department of Fish and Game and Arco, parent company of Four-Corners Pipeline, may raise the estimated amount of oil that spilled from the pipeline. That figure was not available Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the toll of dead and injured animals rose. Crews have found 24 dead birds and 23 live birds coated with oil. They also found 629 dead fish, including three endangered unarmored three-spined stickleback.

The stretch of river contaminated by the spill was a habitat for the stickleback, Smith said. He said the population there is estimated at 100 to 200 stickleback, but no firm count exists.