An oil spill was reported Friday at the Bell Lease southeast of Santa Maria and Orcutt, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said.
Capt. Daniel Bertucelli said the department confirmed a spill of 330 barrels of produced water and 4-5 barrels of oil, and the spill was confined to the pad area.
County Fire crews and Santa Barbara County oil and gas specialists responded to the scene after the 11:45 a.m. call came in, he said.
The spill was reported at a 7320 Palmer Road facility, which is east of a 2,100-gallon crude oil pipeline spill reported last week on the 7000 block of Graciosa Road, near Highway 135.
The Bell Lease off Palmer Road and the site of last week’s spill are both operated by HVI Cat Canyon Inc., also known as Greka, Greka Oil & Gas and Greka California.
The Santa Maria oil company is known for dozens of spills and filed for bankruptcy reorganization in August. A federal court case, which potentially brings millions of dollars in civil penalties, is nearing conclusion.
No further details were available.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.