--- description: A rupture in a California oil pipeline has released thousands of gallons of crude oil into the ocean. title: California Governor Declares State of Emergency After Santa Barbara Oil Spill image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f606ac4b16d13a5/69885118cd6848540109ff9a/rtx1dv9c.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Environment](/tag/environment/) ## Environment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # California Governor Declares State of Emergency After Santa Barbara Oil Spill by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 21, 2015 2:07 AM CUT  Volunteers fill buckets with oil from an oil slick along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif., on May 20, 2015 Volunteers fill buckets with oil from an oil slick along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif., on May 20, 2015Lucy Nicholson—Reuters by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 21, 2015 2:07 AM CUT California Governor Jerry Brown [declared a state of emergency](http://cert1.mail-west.com/Qyj5D/janmc7rm5/yuz/w2h56315Qgtm/Qcjrq6k62/nq5/05d1866315Qqv/fph/qoasup?%5Fc=d%7Cze7pzanwmhlzgt%7C136681q50ucsnbd&%5Fce=1432171162.d20ca6f806740da858628af78f2c1354 "undefined") for Santa Barbara County on Wednesday as cleanup teams sought to limit the environmental impact from a ruptured underground pipeline that might have spilled as many as 105,000 gallons of crude oil. More than 20,000 gallons are estimated to have spilled into the ocean, seeping through the ground into a culvert and flowing into the ocean near Refugio State Beach, the Los Angeles _Times_ [reports](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-pipeline-santa-barbara-coast-20150519-story.html#page=1 "undefined"). Oil slicks across a combined nine miles have stretched along the coastline. The owner of the pipeline that ruptured Tuesday afternoon is Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline, which last saw results for an inspection in 2012\. The line, which can pump as many as 6.3 million gallons a day, averages a flow rate of some 50,400 gallons per hour. “We’re sorry this accident has happened and we’re sorry for the inconvenience to the community,” said Darren Palmer, district manager for Plains All American, told reporters. There’s no estimate yet on the harm to local natural life, but officials estimate it will take at least three days—likely many more—to clean up the spill before the damage can be assessed. ### See a Massive Oil Slick in the Pacific Ocean After Spill  An oil slick is seen along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif. on May 19, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  An oil slick washes up on a beach along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif. on May 19, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  Workers clean up an oil leak that caused a slick in the Pacific Ocean along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif. on May 19, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  A man watches an oil slick wash up on a beach along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif. on May 19, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  Oil covers a local resident's boot at Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif. on May 19, 2015. Robyn Beck—AFP/Getty Images  Spilled oil covers the coast at Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif. on May 19, 2015. David McNew—Getty Images  An oil slick is seen along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif. on May 19, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  An oil slick is seen along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta, Calif. on May 19, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  Officials walk along an the oil-covered beach in Goleta, Calif. on May 19, 2015. David McNew—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3891739/california-oil-spill-jerry-brown-state-of-emergency/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3891739/california-oil-spill-jerry-brown-state-of-emergency/"},"headline":"California Governor Declares State of Emergency After Santa Barbara Oil Spill","datePublished":"2015-05-21T02:07:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:23.179Z","description":"As many as 105,000 gallons of crude might have spilled","url":"https://time.com/3891739/california-oil-spill-jerry-brown-state-of-emergency/","keywords":["Environment","natural disaster"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f606ac4b16d13a5/69885118cd6848540109ff9a/rtx1dv9c.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f606ac4b16d13a5/69885118cd6848540109ff9a/rtx1dv9c.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Volunteers fill buckets with oil from an oil slick along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta","caption":"Volunteers fill buckets with oil from an oil slick along the coast of Refugio State Beach in Goleta","creditText":"Lucy Nicholson—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3891739/california-oil-spill-jerry-brown-state-of-emergency/","name":"California Governor Declares State of Emergency After Santa Barbara Oil Spill"}}]}] ```