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Embattled BP reports oil spill off California coast
AFP
LOS ANGELES
Petroleumworld.com 09 14 06
British energy giant BP, already under fire for an oil spill in Alaska, faced a new spill in California but said it had "no significant impact on the environment."
In a statement late Tuesday, BP said it was working in conjunction with federal, state and local officials to clean up a release of approximately 1,000 barrels of "refined product" in an industrial area in the Port of Long Beach.
"The leak has been contained and the released product is being cleaned up," the statement said.
"There have been no injuries and no significant impact on the environment."
"BP has taken full responsibility for this release and its clean up," said Tim Hawkins, BP Pipelines district manager. "On behalf of BP I want to say to the people and businesses of Long Beach that we deeply regret any inconvenience created by this incident."
The British energy group is facing mounting criticism about its US safety record after announcing last month that it was shutting down the giant Prudhoe Bay oil field due to a corroded pipeline that caused a small oil spill.
The August pipeline leak forced BP to shut down much of its production at the vast Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska, sparking a temporary oil price rally.
The August spill, which was caused by corrosion, followed a March spill which spewed over 200,000 gallons of crude onto the Arctic tundra, one of the region's worst oil spills.
Congress is probing BP's maintenance record and reviewing the environmental damage, but is also concerned about oil supplies as Prudhoe Bay accounts for 8.0 percent of US oil output
Other questions were raised about safety after a 2005 explosion at BP refinery in Texas City killed 15 and injured 170.
AFP 13 1404 GMT 09 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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