OIL CLEANUP LIKELY TO TAKE 72 HOURS.

Byline: Associated Press 

A crude oil spill attributed to a leak in an offshore platform's undersea pipeline should be cleaned up within 72 hours, officials said Tuesday.

The spill, a half-mile off from the Central California coast at its closest point, was four miles by two miles and estimated at 200 to 500 barrels.

Seas were initially calm and weather was favorable for cleanup efforts, but 5-foot waves forced skimming vessels back to shore, said Steve Burke, spokesman for Torch Operating Co., which operates Platform Irene for Nuevo Energy Co. of Houston.

Ships were expected to return to sea today.

``We should get a significant amount of it cleaned up today,'' Burke said. ``We've been fortunate to have calm seas and no winds. It's really aiding our cleanup efforts.''

One of nine oil-soaked birds found on the beach had died, he said. The condition of the others was not immediately known. Only about a half-dozen birds had been spotted in the slick at sea earlier Tuesday.

The nearby Santa Barbara County coast is home to endangered species, including western snowy plovers, least terns, brown pelicans and sea otters.

Oil flowed from a break in the pipeline midway between Platform Irene, which stands in about 245 feet of water three miles from shore, and a shoreline terminal at Point Arguello.

Investigators reported a crack in a flange connecting two pieces of pipe caused the leak, said Art Boehm, another spokesman for Torch Operating Co. It was not immediately known what was responsible for the crack.

The pipe was inspected and found in good operating condition in July, Boehm said.

The Coast Guard described the slick as strands of crude 1,000 feet long by 100 feet wide, with sheen in between.

Cleanup vessels deployed 5,000 feet of floating booms to contain the oil, said Darryl Waldrom, an official of Clean Seas, a cleanup consortium. Weather conditions were unseasonably good, he said, and he predicted all recoverable oil could be cleaned up in 72 hours.

Workers had recovered 180 barrels by late Monday, according to the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services.

The oil is heavy and tends to stick together, which makes skimmers more effective, Boehm said.

No more oil was observed coming to the surface, but about 2,000 barrels of crude were believed to remain in the pipe, Boehm said.

Tanks were being brought to the platform to carry out a plan to pump the remaining oil out from the platform and shore sides of the break.

Point Arguello is 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles, on a stretch of central coast spanned by Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The base's 35-mile shoreline is virtually pristine and home to marine mammals and endangered birds such as the least tern and snowy plover, said base spokeswoman 1st Lt. Carol Kanode.

``It's basically a wild land,'' she said.

The snowy plover nesting season in coastal sand dunes was to officially be declared over today.

The problem with the 20-inch-diameter pipeline began late Sunday. The companies said it was shut down immediately when a pressure loss was detected about 11 p.m.

Boehm said the National Response Center was notified of the pressure loss and a contract boat that was in the area to do a routine study of the pipe began searching the pipeline route for signs of a leak. Oil was found in the water shortly after 2 a.m., Boehm said.

Nuevo said Torch immediately notified all appropriate federal, state and local authorities as well as a petroleum industry environmental response group.

The Coast Guard's 11th District headquarters in San Pedro said it was alerted by Torch shortly after 2 a.m.

Nuevo spokesman Bob King said he did not believe regulators would regard the three-hour span as poor performance because pressure losses have various causes and companies have to confirm a leak has occurred before making a report.

The break fully shut down Platform Irene, which produces about 11,000 barrels of oil daily.