In keeping with its clean track record of dirty business, Greka Oil and Gas Corporation was responsible for yet another oil spill last night that sent at least one barrel of crude oozing into a nearby creek.
At around 7:15 last night, reported Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesperson Capt. David Sadecki, fire crews and CHP personnel responded to the spill at Greka’s Bell lease at 6300 Palmer Road in Santa Maria. Greka employees, said Sadecki, noticed the spill — five barrels’ worth of oil, produced water, and rain water — make its way across Palmer Road, and notified the appropriate agencies as well as the Department of Fish and Game and Santa Barbara County’s Office of Emergency Services.
CHP officers closed Palmer Road while crews mopped up the mess with the help of vacuum trucks and a backhoe. Greka and County Fire crews also scrambled to build a dike to contain the spill.