Bush Oil Co

Ventura County's oil production has fallen drastically in recent decades, but one independent--Taft-based Bush Oil Co.--is busy bringing back a once-dying field off the Ventura coast. Bush has retooled four slant-drilled wells off McGrath State Beach, raising the wells' production from 25 barrels a day to more than 580 barrels daily. Jerry V. Hoffman, president of Bush and its parent, Berry Petroleum Co.

As the death toll among birds and other wildlife inhabiting McGrath State Beach rose by the hour, crews made some progress Tuesday in cleaning up 84,000 gallons of runaway crude oil. Although a Bush Oil Co. spokesman said that more than 36,000 gallons of the thick black oil had been recovered so far, park officials moved to close four miles of Oxnard beaches as the cleanup continued there.

A Bush Oil Co. pipeline leaked more than 400 gallons of heavy crude oil into McGrath Lake and the ocean near the mouth of the Santa Clara River early Christmas morning, severely damaging the lake and its wetlands, state Department of Fish and Game officials said. "It's going to take a long time to clean it up and bring it back to normal," Lt. Mark Caywood of the Fish and Game Department said. "We're talking years." Bush officials said they did not know why the pipeline began leaking.

The disastrous break of a decades-old pipeline that spilled 84,000 gallons of oil in a wetlands area near Oxnard raises new questions about whether tougher maintenance and inspection standards should be set for aging oil fields, state officials said Tuesday. "The old pipelines are a problem," state Resources Agency Secretary Douglas Wheeler said as he monitored the spill at McGrath State Beach. "The problem is that some of them are not subject to inspection for safety."

Estimates of crude oil lost from a pipeline rupture at McGrath State Beach near Oxnard increased eightfold Monday, to about 84,000 gallons, as authorities revealed that the leak may have occurred many hours--or even days--before it was discovered Christmas morning.

About 200 workers scrambled Sunday to clean up more than 10,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled across a one-mile stretch of beach and fragile marshlands near McGrath State Park. The oil spill, which occurred early Christmas morning when a transfer pipe operated by Bush Oil Co. ruptured, is among the largest in Ventura County history. By Sunday afternoon, animal rescue workers had recovered more than a dozen birds injured or killed by the slick that tarred the highly sensitive wetlands.

The disastrous break of a decades-old pipeline that spilled 84,000 gallons of oil in a wetlands area near Oxnard raises new questions about whether tougher maintenance and inspection standards should be set for aging oil fields, state officials said Tuesday. "The old pipelines are a problem," state Resources Agency Secretary Douglas Wheeler said as he monitored the spill at McGrath State Beach. "The problem is that some of them are not subject to inspection for safety."

As the death toll among birds and other wildlife inhabiting McGrath State Beach rose by the hour, crews made some progress Tuesday in cleaning up 84,000 gallons of runaway crude oil. Although a Bush Oil Co. spokesman said that more than 36,000 gallons of the thick black oil had been recovered so far, park officials moved to close four miles of Oxnard beaches as the cleanup continued there.

Cleanup workers armed with rakes and shovels fanned out along miles of coastline Monday as Bush Oil Co. executives admitted that their ruptured pipeline had unleashed far more heavy crude than first reported. Emergency crews numbering 300 or more are focusing cleanup efforts on two fronts--the McGrath Lake wetlands and seven miles of coastline stretching from the Pierpont area in Ventura south to Channel Islands Harbor.

A leaking underground pipeline that runs along Harbor Boulevard in Oxnard sent an unknown amount of oil gushing into McGrath Lake and the ocean beyond early Christmas morning. "This is every kind of oil spill wrapped into one," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Tom Halg, referring to the lake, its oil-stained wetlands, the nearby beach and the ocean.

Cleanup workers armed with rakes and shovels fanned out along miles of coastline Monday as Bush Oil Co. executives admitted that their ruptured pipeline had unleashed far more heavy crude than first reported. Emergency crews numbering 300 or more are focusing cleanup efforts on two fronts--the McGrath Lake wetlands and seven miles of coastline stretching from the Pierpont area in Ventura south to Channel Islands Harbor.

Estimates of crude oil lost from a pipeline rupture at McGrath State Beach near Oxnard increased eightfold Monday, to about 84,000 gallons, as authorities revealed that the leak may have occurred many hours--or even days--before it was discovered Christmas morning.

About 200 workers scrambled Sunday to clean up more than 10,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled across a one-mile stretch of beach and fragile marshlands near McGrath State Park. The oil spill, which occurred early Christmas morning when a transfer pipe operated by Bush Oil Co. ruptured, is among the largest in Ventura County history. By Sunday afternoon, animal rescue workers had recovered more than a dozen birds injured or killed by the slick that tarred the highly sensitive wetlands.

A leaking underground pipeline that runs along Harbor Boulevard in Oxnard sent an unknown amount of oil gushing into McGrath Lake and the ocean beyond early Christmas morning. "This is every kind of oil spill wrapped into one," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Tom Halg, referring to the lake, its oil-stained wetlands, the nearby beach and the ocean.

A Bush Oil Co. pipeline leaked more than 400 gallons of heavy crude oil into McGrath Lake and the ocean near the mouth of the Santa Clara River early Christmas morning, severely damaging the lake and its wetlands, state Department of Fish and Game officials said. "It's going to take a long time to clean it up and bring it back to normal," Lt. Mark Caywood of the Fish and Game Department said. "We're talking years." Bush officials said they did not know why the pipeline began leaking.

Ventura County's oil production has fallen drastically in recent decades, but one independent--Taft-based Bush Oil Co.--is busy bringing back a once-dying field off the Ventura coast. Bush has retooled four slant-drilled wells off McGrath State Beach, raising the wells' production from 25 barrels a day to more than 580 barrels daily. Jerry V. Hoffman, president of Bush and its parent, Berry Petroleum Co.

A stretch of Harbor Boulevard near Oxnard that has been closed for six hours a day since an oil spill on Christmas Day should reopen Wednesday as cleanup of the contamination ends. Ray Hatch, a spokesman for Bush Oil Co., which is responsible for the spill, said crews will continue to work this week at McGrath Lake, where 84,000 gallons of oil leaked from a pipeline. Since Christmas, drivers on Harbor Boulevard have had to detour between Gonzales Road and Olivas Park Drive between 9 a.m.

A private-practice attorney who specializes in environmental law has been hired by the Ventura County district attorney's office to investigate a spill of 84,000 gallons of heavy crude oil last year into McGrath Lake just north of Oxnard. Oxnard attorney Glen M. Reiser said he was awaiting a final report on the spill from the California Department of Fish and Game before recommending whether criminal charges should be filed against Bush Oil Co. officials. Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregory W.