The governor of California has declared an emergency after a pipeline rupture dumped thousands of litres of oil into the ocean, as crews scramble to contain the oil slick and clean up popular beaches.
A day after the spill near Santa Barbara, northwest of Los Angeles, the US Coast Guard said helicopter flights had shown the slick stretched about 14 kilometres along the Pacific Ocean coast.
The spill was estimated at up to 400,000 litres, of which some 79,500 litres of crude oil may have leaked into the ocean, according to an official update on Wednesday afternoon local time.
The leak was caused by Plains All American Pipeline who stopped the flow of oil which began around midday on Tuesday, the company said
The Environmental Defence Centre lamented the spill, saying there were likely failings that allowed it to occur.
"There continues to be a number of questions ... including why there was no automatic shut-off on this relatively new pipeline, and why the early response was not more successful in halting the flow," the group's head Owen Bailey said.
Kathryn Phillips, California director of environmental group Sierra Club said: "Every time we hear about an oil spill, we hold our breath and hope it won't get worse."
"How many more signals do we need from the oil industry that public health and the environment aren't at the top of its list when it decides how much to invest in creating its products?
"It's time we all demand better from this incredibly wealthy industry."
The 61-centimetre pipeline was built in 1987 and transports crude oil from a nearby above-ground oil storage facility to refineries throughout southern California. It typically operates at some 191,000 litres per hour.
Santa Barbara was the scene of what was then the largest oil spill in US history, when in 1969 several million litres of crude spewed into the ocean after an oil rig blowout.
So many accidents with oil and gas companies, they just cannot guarantee safe practises. When will they ever learn?
