2nd Oil Spill Hits Environmentally Sensitive Area

MARTINEZ, Calif. â€”  About 4,000 gallons of oil spilled into an environmentally sensitive slough from a Pacific Gas & Electric pipeline, one mile from April’s disastrous oil spill from the nearby Shell Oil refinery, officials said Saturday.

The light crude spill, which occurred sometime Friday night, was contained within Hastings Slough by floating booms Saturday afternoon, said a spokesman for the Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento, which was monitoring clean-up efforts.

Representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Fish and Game planned to fly over the spill late Saturday afternoon to assess potential environmental damage, according to the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Office in Alameda.

Up to 100 barrels of oil leaked from an unused pipeline that runs from Richmond to Antioch, where PG&E; operates several power plants, according to utility spokesman Dick Davin. The facilities once burned oil, but now burn natural gas.

The pipeline was kept loaded with oil so that it could be reactivated if needed, Davin said. It has not been used since about 1982, he added.

The spill appeared to have been contained in the environmentally sensitive marsh along the slough, according to state Department of Fish and Game officials.

At least 350,000 gallons of oil spilled into nearby Pacheco Slough on April 23 after a drain pipe running from the roof of a Shell Oil refinery oil tank broke. It killed about 200 birds and animals.