ASPHALT SPILL TRIGGERS COMPLAINTS; OXNARD FIREFIGHTERS FIND BROKEN PIPELINE, RESIDENTS TELL OF NAUSEA.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

Firefighters responded to a spill early Thursday at an asphalt processing plant on Fifth Street after residents flooded the Fire Department with calls about the smell of oil and gas.

Some residents complained of nausea from the fumes, and others evacuated the area, according to the Oxnard Fire Department.

``We had dozens, if not hundreds, of complaints all the way to the beach area,'' said Battalion Chief Mike O'Malia. ``In concentrated forms it can make people nauseous.''

Firefighters searched for an hour to find the source of the odor following the 2:46 a.m. dispatch, O'Malia said.

A pipeline at the Temby Co. in the 3400 block of Fifth Street broke under pressure, spraying ``a kind of aerosol product into the air, which was picked up by the atmosphere and caused a vapor cloud that migrated through the city,'' O'Malia said.

Firefighters were able to contain the spill and a cleanup company under the supervision of the Ventura County Environmental Health Department was vacuuming up several hundred gallons of the product, O'Malia said.

Temby's facility manager said the material is not toxic, even though it gives off a pungent odor.

``It wasn't a toxic plume of any kind,'' said facility manager Richard Nali. ``It really wasn't any harm - it does stink.''

He said the material is used in oil operations to help pull crude oil from the wells. He added that the incident was the first of its kind in his 22 years at the company.

Fire investigators told residents to stay inside while the cleanup was under way.

``We've had several complaints from residents that they were feeling nauseous,'' O'Malia said. ``We were advising residents to go inside their homes and shut their doors and windows.

``Most people complied with that. Some people with small children elected to self-evacuate from the area.''