From: USA Today
The oil pipeline that ruptured last month and polluted miles of
once-pristine California coast was corroded extensively in four areas
that the owner had identified for repair two weeks before the accident,
according to a federal report released Wednesday.
Investigators
found a 6-inch-long crack along the bottom of the section of the
24-inch-diameter underground pipe that ruptured May 19, the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said. The accident spilled
between 71,400 gallons and 105,000 gallons of heavy crude, much of it
pouring down a storm culvert into the Pacific Ocean near Santa Barbara.
At
the spot where Line 901 failed, corrosion had worn the metal down to an
estimated thickness of just 1/16th of an inch — far more degradation
than the owner, Houston-based Plains Pipeline, reported to the agency
after the company's May 5 inspection. MORE
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