Unified Command for Refugio Beach oil spill response operations disestablished

UPDATED MARCH 10, 2017 -- The interagency Unified Command formed to coordinate the cleanup of the 2015 Refugio Beach oil spill was officially disestablished March 02, 2017 following the completion of monitoring of spill affected areas. The monitoring program site visits did not discover any new areas affected by oil spilled from Plains Pipeline 901. 

The Unified Command structure, which involves federal, state, and local agencies as well as the responsible party, is used for most oil spill response operations under the National Oil and Hazardous Materials Spill Response Plan. Information about the Refugio Beach oil spill cleanup operations, and contact information for UC agencies and organizations are available on this website, www.refugioresponse.com. The U.S. Coast Guard, California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and Santa Barbara County after actions reports that detail the response's actions, lessons learned and recommendations can be found here: http://www.rrt9.org/go/doctype/2763/217078. 

Questions about cleanup operations may be directed to:

Federal On-Scene Coordinators

U.S. Coast Guard, Sector Los Angeles

Phone: 310-521-4260

Environmental Protection Agency

Phone 415-947-8120

State of California On-Scene Coordinator

Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response

Phone 916-322-1683

Local On-Scene Coordinator

County of Santa Barbara

Phone 805-681-5526

Responsible Party

Plains All American Pipeline

Phone 866-809-1290

The Unified Command for the Refugio Beach oil spill response was concerned solely with coordinating cleanup operations. Although public agencies represented on the Unified Command may be involved in other matters related to the oil spill, such as investigations, natural resource damage assessments, or environmental impact studies, the Unified Command itself is not involved with these activities. Please contact agencies involved in such matters directly for information and updates about them.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach (LA-LB) Area Committee is a permanent group that consists of representatives from federal, state, and local governments who are responsible for maintaining an Area Contingency Plan that outlines the strategy for a coordinated response to a discharge of oil or a release of hazardous substances. Industry, academia, environmental groups, and other non-government organizations have input to the process at the subcommittee level. The LA-LB Committee will continue to incorporate lessons learned from the 2015 Refugio Beach oil spill in to the LA-LB Area Contingency Plan, which can be found at: https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/OSPR/Preparedness/LA-LB-Spill-Contingency-Plan. If you are interested in participating in the Area Committee, please call (310)521-3776.