BP Pipeline Spills 43,000 Gallons

Federal, state and BP crews are cleaning up an estimated 43,000 gallons of oil product from a BP pipeline at the Port of Long Beach in an incident that occurred Friday morning but not made public until Tuesday afternoon.

The gas oil, a flammable substance used to make gasoline, apparently did not reach harbor waters. Most was trapped in a pump station, but some oil contaminated the soil in a nearby rail yard , said spokesmen for the U.S. Coast Guard and the city of Long Beach. They called the spill unusually large.

“It’s a big release, 43,000 gallons,” said Jeff Benedict, manager of the city health department’s environmental health bureau, which is overseeing the cleanup. He said he cannot recall such a large spill at the harbor.

BP spokeswoman Cyndy Wymore said that a news release was not issued earlier because the spill is handled jointly by the Coast Guard, the state Fish and Game Department and BP and all three decided that public notification was not needed earlier, especially since the oil did not reach the ocean.