Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve

University of California, Santa Barbara

Refugio oil spill fouls NRS reserve

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Lobsang Wangdu
Leaked petroleum formed tar balls on the beach that stuck to wildlife and clumped kelp together in piles.
Leaked petroleum formed tar balls on the beach that stuck to wildlife and clumped kelp together in piles. Image courtesy Coal Oil Point Reserve

A burst oil pipeline along the Santa Barbara coast spilled an estimated 105,000 gallons of crude into the wildlife-rich waters of the Santa Barbara Channel May 19. The leak originated onshore at Refugio State Beach, then poured into the ocean via a storm drain. In the water, it formed an oil slick that came ashore at the UC Natural Reserve System’s Coal Oil Point Reserve in Isla Vista four days later.

Administered by UC Santa Barbara and one of 39 reserves in the NRS, 170-acre Coal Oil Point Reserve is protected for environmental research and teaching.  Read the full article

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