Federal regulators have ordered Plains Pipeline, LP, to remove the crude oil remaining in an idle 
pipeline that runs from the Santa Barbara coast to Kern County, and to take other corrective action following a failure in the system on May 19 that spilled 2,500 barrels of heavy crude on the coastline.
The actions were taken by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. They affect Plains Pipeline’s Line 901 and 903.
Jeffrey D. Weise, Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety, wrote, “I find that continued operation of Line 901 and Line 903 without corrective measures is or would be hazardous to life, property or the environment.
The Houston-based company said that “while we do not agree with several” of the agency’s findings, it “will complete the activities in coordination with and under the oversight from PHMSA as soon as possible.”
Line 901, from which the release occurred, is a 24-inch pipeline that runs from Las Flores to Gaviota. Cleanup from the spill has largely been completed.
Line 903 is a 30-inch pipeline running 129.5 miles from Gaviota to the Emidio pumping station in Kern County. Only the last 15 miles of the line are in use; the remainder of the line is idle but full of crude oil.
The PHMSA said its review of in-line inspections of Lines 901 and 903 over the past 10 years “under-called” areas of corrosion in the lines. Direct measurements of metal loss due to corrosion at the failure site and at other points “were generally more significant” that the in-line tests indicated.
Line 903 “is currently filled with raw, unprocessed crude oil” from offshore wells which has been there since May 15 of this year, the agency said. The crude may contain water, natural gas and other impurities that can contribute to internal corrosion, and rust inhibitors added to the crude will have begun to lose effectiveness now, it reported.
This corrosion, along with environmental forces, could result in cracking of the pipeline, said the agency’s report. The crude oil needed to be removed, and Line 903 purged with an inert gas, to prevent further degradation of the pipeline and “eliminate the potential harm it poses” from a leak.