Sacramento, CA – The Senate Select Committee on the Refugio Oil Spill will meet on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 in Manhattan Beach, California to conduct an oversight hearing on the local impacts of the Refugio Oil Spill to the South Bay.

What:              Senate Select Committee on the Refugio Oil Spill Oversight Hearing - “Local Impacts of the Refugio Oil Spill to the South Bay”

Who:              Senator Hannah-Beath Jackson, Chair (D – Santa Barbara)

                      Senator Ben Allen (D – Santa Monica)

When:            Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 1:00 pm

Where:           Manhattan Beach Public Library, 1320 Highland Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA

Speakers:       Tom Cullen, Administrator of the Office of Spill Prevention and Response

                      Erik Albertson, Section Chief, Lifeguard Division of the LA County Fire Dept.

                      Michael Jordan, Chief of the Emergency Response Unit in the Environmental Health Division, LA County Department of Public Health

                      Nick Brakband, Chief of Recreational Waters Program, LA County Department of Public Health

                      Wayne Powell, Manhattan Beach City Council

                      Megan Herzog, Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment, UCLA

                      Dana Murray, Senior Coastal Policy Manager for Heal the Bay

                      Stefanie Sekich-Quinn, Preservation Manager, Surfrider Foundation

                      Craig Cadwallader, CEO Surfrider Foundation South Bay Chapter

                      Jason Shanks, owner of Nikau Kai Waterman Shop

Background:  On May 19, 2015, a Plains All American Pipeline ruptured, spilling more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil, and leaking approximately 21,000 gallons into the Pacific Ocean at Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County.  It was California’s worst oil spill in 25 years.  One week later, an eight-mile stretch of Los Angeles County South Bay beaches from El Segundo to Torrance Beach were closed for two days as tar balls washed ashore.  Laboratory tests confirmed that the tar balls were the result of the Refugio oil spill.  The focus of the Select Committee hearing is to examine the effectiveness of the cleanup that took place in the South Bay, and the environmental, health and economic impacts of the spill on South Bay communities.

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