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Plains Pipeline,
L.P.
Plains - All American Relocation Efforts at Gaviota Creek
What's New
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In May 2006, Plains Pipeline, L.P.
submitted a Demolition and Reclamation
Permit application to the County to
remove its Gaviota Booster Pump Station.
This station is located on the Gaviota
Terminal facility and pumped oil stored
at the Gaviota Terminal to the Plains
Gaviota Pump Station on the north side
of Highway 101 for pipeline transportation
to refinery destinations. The project
would involve removal of all pumps,
piping, electrical connections, foundations
and other ancillary equipment, in addition
to regrading the site. The application
was found complete in September 2006.
Description
Transports sales quality crude oil to Pentland in Kern County,
whereupon the crude oil is transported via other pipeline systems
to refineries.
Location
Within Santa Barbara County, the Plains
Pipeline originates in the Las
Flores Canyon
Oil & Gas Processing Facility, extends
west to the Gaviota Pump Station and
courses north to the Sisquoc Pump Station,
before turning east past the Hallador
facility and onward into San Luis Obispo
and Kern Counties.
All American Pipeline Map
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Onshore Facilities
- 24-inch diameter, 10-mile long coastal branch
- Transports oil from the Las Flores Canyon Processing Facility
to the main All American Pipeline system at Gaviota
- 150,000 barrel
per day design capacity
- 30-inch diameter, 130-mile-long mainline
- Pump stations at four locations
in Santa Barbara County
- Las Flores Canyon
- Gaviota Booster
- Gaviota
- Sisquoct
- Pipeline Isolation Block Valves/Remote
Terminal Units at five locations in
Santa Barbara County. Valves and RTU's
communicate with Plains remote operator
control room and allow the valves to
be closed at sensitive habitat locations
should an oil flow anomaly be detected.
- Refugio Creek
- Gaviota Creek
- Santa Ynez River
- Sisquoc River
- Cuyama River
Product Distribution
Crude Oil
Product Destination:
- From Sisquoc Pump Station to the Santa
Maria Refinery or the Pentland
Pump Station in Kern County.
- From Pentland Pump Station to other
pipeline systems and on to Bakersfield,
Los Angeles, or San Francisco
Past Activities
- The County approved a change in
ownership of the PLains Pipeline on
June 3, 2003. The action transfered
ownership from All American Pipeline
Company (a corporation) to Plains Pipeline,
L.P. (a limited partnership).
- Plains project's revegetation bond
has been reduced due to the company's
success in restoring grassland, shrubland,
and riparian areas along the pipeline's
70-mile right-of-way. The Energy Division
will continue to work with Plains to
develop restoration approaches for
areas of the pipeline project where
impacts to habitat are still visible.
- Plains is proceeding with the operation
of pipeline monitoring wells at its
three active pipeline pump stations
within Santa Barbara County:
- Gaviota Pump Station
- Las Flores Canyon Pump Station,
and
- Sisquoc Pump Station
These monitoring wells aid in the
detection of oil spills.
Monitoring wells at the Gaviota Pump
Station and the Gaviota Booster
Station were installed in October
2001, while wells at the Sisquoc
Pump Station and the Las Flores Canyon
Pump Station were installed in January
2002 following the County's approval
of the project.
- Plains tests each monitoring well
weekly, by inserting a probe that measures
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
An increase in VOC levels may be an
indication of an underground pipeline
flange leak.
- The Planning Commission approved
Santa Barbara County's portion of
the Plains Pipeline project in 1985
citing the environmental benefits of
crude oil transport via pipeline.
- Construction of the 30-inch-diameter
mainline, extending from Gaviota to
McCamey, Texas, began in 1986.
- Construction of pump stations and
pipeline components continued for
four years.
- Pipeline operations began on June
28, 1991. Infrastructure additions
to the pipeline included:
- Construction of the 24-inch
diameter coastal segment linking
Exxon's Las Flores Canyon processing
facility with the Plains mainline
at Gaviota in 1990.
- Construction of the Las Flores
Canyon Pump Station in 1994.
- Since operations began in 1991,
there have been only four minor spills
from the Plains Pipeline System. These
spills occurred at pump stations and
were completely contained.
- An underground pipeline flange leak
occurred in March 2000 at the Sisquoc
Pump Station spilling an estimated
47 barrels of crude oil before being
detected at the surface. Spill cleanup
required removal of approximately
150 cubic yards of contaminated soil.
- Plains Pipeline once transported
oil to McCamey, Texas for distribution
to facilities in west Texas, the Gulf
States, and the Midwest; however, that
segment of the pipeline between Emidio,
California and McCamey, Texas was idled
and subsequently sold in the late 1990s
to El Paso Natural Gas Company.
- In September 2005, Plains conducted
annual visual inspections of the Santa
Ynez, Sisquoc and Cuyama River pipeline
crossings, pursuant to Final Development
Plan Condition E-2. The inspections revealed
no channel degradation or conditions
that could potentially reduce the cover
over the pipeline at these crossings.
The plan was review by the County’s
Environmental Quality Assurance Program
monitor and recommendations were made.
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