Ventura Landslides Trigger Oil Spill, Gas Blast

A rain-soaked ridge top gave way Saturday, rupturing a pipeline that sent thousands of gallons of crude oil flowing into the ocean and severing a natural gas line that sparked a spectacular 100-foot flame.

After the explosion sent tremors rumbling for miles, the clean-burning gas fire in an oil-producing region just north of Ventura soon grew to such gigantic proportions that it could be seen as far as Oxnard and Santa Paula.

Southern California Gas Co.’s valve system cut off the flow in the 18-inch pipe within an hour. No one was injured in the blast and no property was damaged.

Shortly after the gas break was discovered about 2:35 p.m., authorities noticed crude oil flowing down the barranca alongside Sanjon Road and into the ocean near the Ventura Pier. Ventura County Fire Department officials determined that the oil was coming from a break a few hundred yards from the gas fire.

Texaco and Shell Oil Co., both of which have oil-drilling operations in the area, could not determine whose pipe had ruptured. As a result, both companies shut off their lines in the area, and the 12-inch pipe stopped flowing within an hour.

A phalanx of government agencies quickly descended on the beach and began blocking off the mouth of the barranca, pumping the oil-stained water before it reached the ocean. But about 8,400 gallons of the 21,000 that spilled from the broken pipe made it to the beach, staining about one-eighth of a mile of coastline and two nearby jetties.

“Fortunately, the damage was minimal compared with what it could have been,” said Fire Department spokeswoman Sandi Wells. “We had an excellent response.”

The National Weather Service projects a 60% chance of showers again today, along with chilly temperatures and gusty winds. Monday should be partly cloudy, with no precipitation until Monday night, when another storm is expected to roll in off the Pacific Ocean.

There are several other storm systems behind that one, and weather service officials said Southern California could be headed for another miserable week.

“Don’t hang your wash on the line just yet,” said meteorologist Bill Hoffer. “All these things are lined up from here to Nagano. As long as these systems are out there, anything can happen.”

Saturday’s storm initially appeared to pass through the county with minimal ill effects, dumping more than 1 1/2 inches of rain on farmland and neighborhoods still soggy from a slew of recent downpours but causing no major new damage or injuries. The rains hit the county about 6 a.m. Valentine’s Day and passed by 10 hours later with only minor car crashes and small road closures in their wake.

But as the rains were slowing to a drizzle, the storm’s effects became apparent.

Ventura residents flooded local authorities with calls after the explosion north of town rattled their homes. Soon, they--and people for miles around--spotted a tall, brilliant flame beyond Two Trees, the landmark blue-gum eucalyptus trees above the city.

At the source of the flames, a ridge between Hall Canyon and School Canyon about three miles south of Ventura Avenue, Ventura County Fire Department officials discovered a broken gas line, Battalion Chief Rod Megli said. He toured the site by helicopter, describing the flames as “boiling out” from the end of the sliced line.

The force of the blast was so strong that Megli felt it near Oxnard.

“We were at Station 51 on El Rio Drive [in Oxnard],” Megli said. “It was more like a sonic boom, and then we thought it might be thunder, but we went outside and you could clearly see it up on the hill.”

Dozens of people from as far as Camarillo headed up Breaker Drive to watch and to listen to the jet-engine-like sound of the eerie blaze.

Randy Medina was surfing at Oxnard Shores when he felt the blast. He and his friends jumped out of the water, wiggled out of their wetsuits and raced toward the Ventura hills in their car.

“We heard a giant ‘boom,’ ” the 40-year-old Ventura resident said as he stood watching the fire. “I thought it was an earthquake first. Then we looked out and thought a jet went into the mountain.”

Santa Paula residents also felt the explosion. David Holibaugh was in his home when the pipeline ignited.

“It rattled the windows,” Holibaugh said. “It was twice as loud as any thunderstorm we’ve had. I could still hear it inside the house afterward.”

Authorities determined that the gas line rupture was caused by a landslide that sent about a quarter-acre flowing down. Marcia Secord, district manager for Southern California Gas Co., speculated that a spark from the steel line ripping open may have started the fire.

The ruptured pipe was one of several carrying gas from north of Ventura County to the Los Angeles Basin, Secord said. The natural gas was not headed for Ventura County, so no local service was interrupted.

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Meanwhile, authorities determined that a second landslide 300 to 400 yards from the first caused the oil pipe rupture. Much of the oil pooled near the broken line, but thousands of gallons spewed into San Jon Barranca and began flowing to the ocean.

Shell Oil crews worked furiously, using vacuum tankers to suck up gallons of crude at the barranca’s mouth.

According to Wells, up to 8,400 gallons flowed into the ocean and covered an estimated one-eighth of a mile of Buenaventura State Beach south of the creek.

“But there were no reports of injured wildlife in the area,” Wells said.

Shell crews planned to work much of Saturday night cleaning up the beach and the creek mouth at Sanjon Road and Harbor Boulevard and then conduct a complete survey of the area at daybreak.

Several cars overturned on the Ventura Freeway at the height of Saturday’s storm before noon, according to the California Highway Patrol, but no one suffered serious injuries.

Minor street flooding was reported in several low-lying areas of Camarillo, Ojai, Moorpark, Fillmore and Oxnard. Near Camarillo Airport, Cawelti Road between Las Posas and Lewis roads was closed due to high water. Near Moorpark, Balcom Canyon Road was closed. And near Lake Casitas, Camp Chaffee Road was closed at Casitas Vista Road.

Surf up to 7 feet high hit the Ventura Harbor on Saturday morning, but no problems were reported. The National Weather Service issued a high surf advisory through Monday.

Ventura firefighters responded to a minor mudslide at Kellogg and Cedar streets, where 100 people had to be evacuated earlier this month when the adjacent hillside began to slip. Taking no chances, residents and firefighters there took to the streets with shovels Saturday, clearing the mud to prevent a stream of water from accumulating.

Juan Manuel Longines had hoped to take his wife out for Valentine’s Day, but with a puddle of muddy water encroaching on his house, he had no choice but to grab a shovel and clear the chunks of mud, he said.

“She wants to go do something,” Longines said. “But I’ve got work to do here.”

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Thousand Oaks’ Hill Canyon Wastewater Treatment Plant--where a canyon line ruptured Feb. 3, spilling 63 million gallons of raw sewage and causing the closure of 29 miles of beaches--was holding steady through Saturday’s rains, with no new breaks, officials said. The line was repaired after the first round of storms but gave way again during another deluge. It was fixed again late Friday.

“Everything is fine,” shift operator Larry Kahler said about noon Saturday.

There is still cause for concern, however. Kahler said normal per-day sewage flows at the facility are about 10 million gallons, but it was experiencing flows of up to 23 million gallons Saturday.

“The concrete is set, and we’re monitoring the pressure,” he said of the repaired pipe. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

Bustillo is a Times staff writer. Gammon and Heie are correspondents.

* RELATED STORY: Rain hurting local crops, farm workers. B1