Trucking Firm to Be Billed for Cost of Spill From Crash

A tanker-truck crash on the Ventura Freeway that sent about 6,000 gallons of gasoline spilling into the ocean will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean up--a bill that will be passed on to a Bakersfield-based trucking company.

The trucking firm, Cox Petroleum Transportation, could face additional fines from the state Department of Fish and Game and the California Highway Patrol for the Sunday spill, authorities said.

Most of the gasoline was removed late Sunday. The freeway was shut down for nearly 15 hours, causing a weekend traffic nightmare.

Fish and Game officials spent Monday collecting soil samples, which will be used to assess damage to sea life and the environment. A 300-by-75-foot oval of gasoline remains in the ocean, said Robert Hughes, a spokesman for the department’s oil spill response unit.

The gasoline has killed crabs, fish and worms, Hughes said. The tide carried the gasoline into deeper ocean waters, spreading the spill’s impact, he added.

The quick response apparently spared a large number of birds, Hughes said. Two dead birds have been found so far.

Cox Petroleum also will be charged for restoration of a freeway median barrier and regrading of the freeway, said Ivy Estrada, a spokeswoman for Caltrans.

The company has hired an independent contractor to collect its own soil samples.

CHP investigators are continuing to investigate the cause of the accident, but no criminal charges are expected, spokesman Dave Webb said. “At the most, he could be cited for a spilled load,” Webb said.

Authorities suspect that the driver, Mark Hurtado, 43, of Bakersfield, fell asleep about 3:45 a.m. while driving on a stretch of the Ventura Freeway between Ventura and Carpinteria.

Hurtado has been tested for drug use, but the results will not be known for several weeks, Webb said. There is no evidence that Hurtado was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, he added.

According to company officials, Hurtado had earlier stopped to rest at the side of the road, about four miles from the accident. A CHP officer asked him to move, and shortly afterward he flipped over on the freeway median.

He was trapped in the cab until a passing driver, Danny Green, 42, of Lompoc, ran up to his vehicle, broke the window and helped Hurtado out, Webb said.

Hurtado was hauling 8,500 gallons of gasoline from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo.

Jim Bolla, operations manager at Cox Petroleum, said the driver probably would not be punished by the company.