MOST OIL CLEANED FROM PYRAMID LAKE.Byline: Amy Raisin Darvish Staff Writer ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los - At least 75 percent of the oil that spilled from a ruptured pipeline into Pyramid Lake Pyramid Lake, 188 sq mi (487 sq km), W Nev. The lake, a remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan, receives the Truckee River. Visited (1844) by U.S. explorer John Frémont, the lake was named for its large pyramidal rocks. had been removed from the water by Friday afternoon, officials said. What's left of the estimated five-acre oil slick is scheduled to be removed today before noon, after which crews will begin cleaning the oily shoreline, pipeline company officials said. ``Obviously, our first concern has been removing the oil from the surface of the water,'' said Aubrye Harris, a spokeswoman for Long Beach- based Pacific Energy Partners. ``Once that is completed, we will focus on the shoreline. But the whole canyon cleanup and restoration will probably take a few weeks.'' A landslide triggered by recent heavy rains likely caused the pipeline to break about 1 p.m. Wednesday, spewing 126,000 gallons of light crude oil down the hillside east of Interstate 5. The oil traveled down a ravine, under the highway and into the lake, a holding reservoir that feeds parts of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County. It is too early to determine how much oil made its way into the lake, Harris said. The oil slick was contained to a cove hours after the spill using large, absorbent absorbent /ab·sor·bent/ (-sor´bent) 1. able to take in, or suck up and incorporate. 2. a tissue structure involved in absorption. 3. a substance that absorbs or promotes absorption. barriers called booms. Pyramid Lake, part of the State Water Project, normally feeds into Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² to the south, but water flows were halted following the contamination. Shoreline cleanup is expected to take a few days, Harris said, adding that removing oil from the hillside will require at least two weeks. Amy Raisin Darvish, (661) 257-5254 amy.raisin(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour SAC edition only) Workers remove oil-soaked debris from Pyramid Lake on Friday. Cleanup of Wednesday's spill should be finished today. (2 -- color -- ran in SAC edition only) A skimmer skimmer, common name for certain sea birds resembling the related tern. Skimmers (genus Rhynchops) have long, laterally compressed bills of which the lower mandible is one fourth longer than the movable upper mandible. pulls oil from the surface of water at Pyramid Lake on Friday. Work continues around the clock to clean up the 126,000 gallons of crude oil. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion