Unocal Oil Spill Produces a Sticky Mess in Fullerton : Environment: Cleanup crews and firefighters contain 200-gallon breach after it flows six miles down a flood channel.

About 200 gallons of crude oil leaked from a Unocal oil field Tuesday, flowing about six miles down a flood control channel before crews managed to contain the spill, fire and company officials said.

Fire officials said the spill created a sticky mess for miles, but otherwise posed little danger.

“It’s like spilling something sticky and greasy on the kitchen floor,” said Fullerton Battalion Chief John Clark. “It’s just a matter of cleaning it up so it doesn’t kill the plants in the flood control channel.”

At 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, Unocal workers noticed oil leaking from the East Coyote oil field at East Bastanchury Road and Brea Boulevard, said Unocal Corp. spokesman David M. Garcia.

Oil production at all three wells at the field was immediately stopped as workers began a cleanup, Garcia said. By 8 a.m., Unocal technicians noticed that the oil had entered a storm drain and a concrete storm channel, flowing south to Hillcrest Park, Garcia said.

Ten Fullerton firefighters, a battalion chief and 20 city workers were called to the scene.

“We ended up with a bunch of it in an area near the base of Hillcrest Park,” Clark said. “Firefighters dammed it up as fast as they could.”

Clark said that hot water injected into the oil wells makes the crude oil less flammable than it otherwise would be.

The spill was contained by 9:10 a.m. using sand berms and containment booms, Garcia said.

About 50 Unocal cleanup crew members outfitted in protective gear worked throughout the day to mop up the spill, guiding the oily water into three areas where they could then remove it with vacuum trucks and cleanse it, Garcia said.

“It’s all a concrete-lined storm drain, so in terms of wildlife there’s no impact,” Garcia said. “What we’ll do is go back and flush the drain and if necessary steam-clean it. It will be extremely clean once we’re through.”

Clark said the leak was caused by a corroded pipeline, but Unocal officials said they were digging up the line and had not yet identified the cause.

“There was some reason for it to fail or to leak but we don’t know what it is now,” said spokesman Barry Lane.