Oil Spill Damages Wetlands : Environment: At least 420 gallons leak from a Bush Oil Co. pipeline into Oxnard's McGrath Lake. Area is home to two or more endangered species and a range of other waterfowl.

By MATTHEW MOSK and SCOTT HADLY

Dec. 26, 1993 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

A leaking underground pipeline that runs along Harbor Boulevard in Oxnard sent an unknown amount of oil gushing into McGrath Lake and the ocean beyond early Christmas morning.

“This is every kind of oil spill wrapped into one,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer Tom Halg, referring to the lake, its oil-stained wetlands, the nearby beach and the ocean.

Halg--who flew over the oil slick that stretched about a mile south from the mouth of the Santa Clara River to the Edison Plant--said late Saturday that crews were doing a good job of containing the oil in the ocean. But he estimated it would take at least two more days to completely clean ocean waters.

Lt. Mark Caywood of the California Department of Fish and Game’s office of oil spill prevention and response, said that damage to the marine environment was minimal. But he said that damage to the lake and its wetlands was severe.

“It’s going to take a long time to clean it up and bring it back to normal,” Caywood said, referring to the lake and its wetlands. “We’re talking years.”

It was unclear how much of the heavy crude oil had actually leaked from the Bush Oil Co. pipeline. Caywood estimated that at least 10 barrels--420 gallons--had leaked. But he said he could not estimate what the upper range of the spill might be.

One of the concerns was the fate of water birds, which would lose their natural insulation if they get the heavy, sticky oil on their feathers. Melissa Boggs, also with the Department of Fish and Game, said she had found fewer than half a dozen oil-soaked birds but “we know we will find more.”

The area is home to at least two endangered species--the California brown pelican and the snowy plover--and a range of other waterfowl including heron, egrets, sandpipers, ducks and other birds.

Cleanup crews grew as the day progressed, with an estimated 100 white-suited and yellow-slickered workers battling the oil as darkness fell. Lights were brought onto the beach and to the edge of the lake so workers could labor through the night.

Bulldozers pushed oil-stained sand back from the waterline, as workers tried to beat an early-evening high tide. Meanwhile, skiffs on the lake pulled yellow booms into position, as they tried to contain the oil.

McGrath Lake is a narrow body of water about half a mile long, running just west of Harbor Boulevard and south of Gonzales Road. It is fed by runoff from nearby agricultural fields, with the water channeled into the ocean. It is within the confines of McGrath State Beach.

In recent months, Bush Oil Co. has been retooling old oil wells near the state beach. The wells had been operated by Chevron but had been shut down before being taken over by Bush, which is based in Taft. A Bush official said the wells pump about 1,200 barrels of oil a day.

Bush is a subsidiary of Berry Petroleum Co. Jerry Hoffman, Berry’s president, arrived at the site about 4 p.m. Saturday. He said he did not know yet what caused the pipeline--which carries the crude from one storage area to another--to leak. Another company official said the pipe is buried about eight inches underground at that point and would have to be dug up to determine what caused the leak.

Hoffman said the Christmas holiday did not hamper the cleanup.

“We were able to get ahold of almost everyone on our response team,” he said.

The spill was first reported about 7:30 a.m. by a helicopter from the U.S. Department of Interior’s oil field inspection division. The slick was about 200 yards offshore. At first, it was thought the oil came from a nearby Unocal pipeline, but it was later traced back to the Bush pipeline.

Clean Seas of Carpenteria and four smaller companies responded to the spill alert. Darryle M. Waldron, manager of Clean Seas, said three skimming vessels and three other vessels were being used in the ocean cleanup.

Tom Dunaway, regional supervisor for the Mineral Management Services of the Department of Interior, said cleanup of the wetlands and the lake will be difficult.

“If this was at sea, it could dissipate over a wide area,” Dunaway said. “Concentrated in such a small area, you can’t count on nature to do the job. People have to do it.”

Boggs of the fish and game department, said that just cleaning up the visible oil does not erase the problems for the wetlands.

” . . . Even after cleanup, the oil kills insects which disrupts the food chain,” she said. “The oil can seep into the soil and then resurface and create a new slick.”

Local members of the Audubon Society, who are preparing for the group’s annual bird count in the west county next weekend, said they were dismayed by the news of the spill in the sensitive coastal wetland.

“That particular coastal area is used frequently by migrating waterfowl, and other species that spend the winter there,” said Don Davis, vice president of the local Audubon chapter. “ . . . It’s of tremendous value for migrating birds.”

In last year’s bird count, Audubon birders spotted 20 to 30 different species of ducks using McGrath Lake as an over-wintering spot, said Terry O’Neill, an Audubon member..

“It’s not as important as the ponds at Point Mugu, but these days every square inch of wetlands is important,” said O’Neill. “It’s another one of those damn stupid mistakes that people make that could destroy this special place . . . for who knows how long.”

Free-lance writer Kathryn Phillips contributed to this story.