{"id":329203,"date":"2026-05-23T09:29:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T09:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329203\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T09:29:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T09:29:22","slug":"six-months-after-oil-spilled-into-california-tributary-families-worry-the-cleanup-was-never-finished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329203\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Months After Oil Spilled Into California Tributary, Families Worry the Cleanup Was Never Finished"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA PAULA, Calif.\u2014As he slowly pulled his beige van into the driveway following a trip to the hardware store for garden supplies, Ethan Higbee didn\u2019t suspect anything was wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then he got out of his car.<\/p>\n

The unmistakable smell of gas subsumed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard rushing, gushing water. What I thought was water. But it wasn\u2019t, it was oil,\u201d Higbee said Monday, exactly six months after rivulets of crude oil ran into a waterway near his home.<\/p>\n

The oil\u2014which contaminated at least three-quarters of a mile of a remote tributary of Sisar Creek\u2014came from the top of the hill next to Higbee\u2019s house in Santa Paula. The origin? Oil inside of an above-ground storage tank had breached, state crews later discovered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the moment, it appeared to Higbee that no one up there was the wiser to what was happening. He called 911 and rushed inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in my house, because I was like, I\u2019m not going (out), that\u2019s just gonna explode. I was terrified,\u201d the 47-year-old filmmaker said. \u201cI thought I was going to pass out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ventura County incident\u2014what resulted from a tank overfilling and improper rainwater valve management by oil and gas company Carbon California, according to the state\u2014was described by the business as a \u201csmall crude oil spill\u201d in a report obtained by Inside Climate News.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 420 gallons were accidentally spilled, according to the report and on-scene responders.<\/p>\n

Locals in the area near Ojai have cast doubt on the spill estimate. Higbee is among those who believe it was more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carbon California did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

In December, state regulators cited the company in a \u201cnotice of violation,\u201d highlighting in the letter that enforcement action could follow. An email exchange between the state and Carbon California, obtained by Inside Climate News, included acknowledgement from regulators that the initial malfunction that led to the November spill was fixed. Exactly what steps were taken since remain unclear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

California officials this week said they could not fully confirm how much crude oil was spilled Nov. 18.<\/p>\n

State officials from the Department of Fish and Wildlife said the initial spill estimate was included in a joint press release\u2014on behalf of the state, federal officials, county authorities and the company. It was arrived at by experts in calculating spill estimates, a state spokesman said in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 420-gallon estimate did not change during the response efforts, which ended Dec. 9, the department said. However, a separate investigation was carried out after the incident, and a new spill figure was not immediately available this month.<\/p>\n

\"An\"AnAn aerial view of the area where the Carbon California oil spill originated. Credit: CFROG<\/p>\n

Eric Laughlin, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Wildlife\u2019s Office of Spill Prevention and Response, said in an email Thursday that the department\u2019s Law Enforcement Division conducted an investigation and submitted a report earlier this month to the Ventura County District Attorney\u2019s Office .<\/p>\n

That office could not be immediately reached for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinal spill quantification is part of the case we submitted and we are unable to comment on pending litigation,\u201d Laughlin said for the potential of further action by the state.<\/p>\n

There was \u201cno oiled wildlife\u201d observed after the incident, a Carbon California official wrote in an incident report prepared Jan. 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A\"AA view of contaminated water immediately after the Carbon California oil spill in Ventura County. Credit: Courtesy of Ethan Higbee<\/p>\n

\"Crews\"CrewsCrews are seen at the site of the oil spill a month after the incident. Credit: Courtesy of Ethan Higbee<\/p>\n

So far, no specific negative health outcomes have been reported by people in the roughly 20 homes that surround the site where the spill was first reported or elsewhere nearby, according to residents in the area and environmental advocates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean people are not on edge.<\/p>\n

A new group called \u201cNeighbors of Santa Paula Canyon,\u201d made up of several local residents, has formed in an effort to address local concerns and what\u2019s resulted from the November incident.<\/p>\n

Six months after the oil spill, Higbee walked his property holding a machete.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He used the rusted tip to point to oil stains on rocks and dig for pieces of what he fears are oil remains caked beneath the soil. He pointed to a black stain under one boulder about 85 feet from his front door. His 6-year-old, Noah, played nearby with his baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see the difference in color,\u201d Higbee said, finding another stain.<\/p>\n

\"Ethan\"EthanEthan Higbee stands with his 6-year-old son, Noah, in the area where the spill took place six months earlier. Credit: Steven Rodas\/Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother Acute Example\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos and videos of the oil spill show a bustling scene.<\/p>\n

Crews in protective white and yellow suits standing next to lumbering trucks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Black globs mixing with discolored water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yellow tape cordoning off cleanup areas next to orange cones.<\/p>\n

Today, that tape is tattered and strewn about near a small bridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Haley Ehlers, the executive director of a community advocacy group, Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas, or CFROG<\/a>, the scene is all too common.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis spill, and the incomplete response, is another acute example of the unacceptable harm the oil and gas industry poses for community and environmental health,\u201d said Ehlers.<\/p>\n

\"Crews\"CrewsCrews work at the site of the Carbon California oil spill. Credit: CFROG<\/p>\n

She echoed Higbee\u2019s concerns over the spill\u2019s potential impacts to the air and water. Another worry: the reporting of the incident itself. Neighbors knocked on doors to warn each other as the oil spill was happening.<\/p>\n

Officials did not immediately clarify exactly how the oil spill was called in, but Higbee said no one was on the scene until he dialed the police and fire department.<\/p>\n

Ehlers emphasized that \u201ccommunity members are still being left in the dark, with no indication that the operator has been held accountable for this disaster, even six months later.\u201d<\/p>\n

How often do oil spills like this happen in California?<\/p>\n

Between October 2025 and this month, more than 50 crude oil spills and other leaks have been reported to the state, according to data provided to Inside Climate News by nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity<\/a>. The organization noted that these are spills\u2014as well as leaks of produced water\u2014called into California\u2019s Office of Emergency Services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The spills ranged in size from 210 gallons of crude oil and rainwater in Ventura County this past February to 22,000 gallons released from a pipeline leak in December in Kern County, according to the center\u2019s data.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Just this week, a pipeline ruptured Friday in East Los Angeles\u2014<\/a>releasing an amount of crude oil still being determined<\/a>. A day earlier, a storage tank in Kern County accidentally released at least 42,000 gallons of oil-related wastewater<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Acute health effects from exposure to crude oil spills can include respiratory, eye, and skin symptoms, as well as headache, nausea, dizziness, tiredness or fatigue, according to researchers.<\/a> Health experts also pointed to chronic effects like respiratory disorders, genotoxic effects and endocrine abnormalities, among more serious potential problems. <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oil production factors into where oil spills are most common.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe estimated approximately 3 million Californians live within 3,200 feet of an active oil or gas development,\u201d said Jill Johnston, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of California, Irvine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe volume of oil extraction and the number of wells is largest in Kern County \u2026 and then if you go to the coast, Ventura and Santa Barbara (counties), there\u2019s also some (significant) oil extraction in those counties,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This story is funded by readers like you.<\/p>\n

Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.<\/p>\n

Donate Now<\/a> <\/p>\n

In 2025, Ventura County represented 4.2 percent of the state\u2019s crude oil production, said Kyle Ferrar, the western program director for FracTracker Alliance<\/a>, a nonprofit that tracks oil and gas development data.<\/p>\n

According to 2025 data from the state, Kern County significantly outweighed the others, accounting for 73 percent of California\u2019s oil production. Los Angeles County sat at 10 percent and Fresno County at just over 4 percent.<\/p>\n

Although federal officials continue to investigate the recent Ventura County oil spill, Julia Giarmoleo of EPA Region 9, said its probe so far found the incident occurred when heavy rain caused a \u201cslop tank,\u201d which is used for oil and water separation to overflow, allowing oil to breach and flow into Sisar Creek.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEPA is continuing to investigate the incident and cannot comment on the status of our ongoing investigation,\u201d Giarmoleo said Thursday.<\/p>\n

A letter from California regulators to the company in December noted \u201cthe operator\u2019s failure to close and secure rainwater valves led to the unauthorized release of fluids from the secondary containment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ehlers hopes a new investigation by Ventura County officials working with the state \u201cleads to sufficient remediation, long-term positive environmental impacts, and more responsible operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Families in the Santa Paula area and nearby want to know exactly how much oil spilled, what testing has been carried out so far, what else is planned and in what ways Carbon California has been made to pay following the incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Ethan\"EthanEthan Higbee points to the area where the oil spill originated. Credit: Steven Rodas\/Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been six months,\u201d Higbee said this week, sounding exasperated, \u201cwe want to know answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hollin Kretzmann, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the future of the Sisar Creek site is also relevant for another reason.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 21, three days after the Ventura oil spill, the state approved the operator\u2019s proposal for wastewater injection activity in the same oil field where the spill took place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means there (could) be oil production in the area until at least 2040,\u201d Kretzmann said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAbout This Story<\/p>\n

Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That\u2019s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can\u2019t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We\u2019ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.<\/p>\n

Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.<\/p>\n

Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don\u2019t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places? <\/p>\n

Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.<\/p>\n

Thank you,<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSteven Rodas\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tReporter, California<\/p>\n

Steven Rodas is an environmental and climate reporter for Inside Climate News based in Southern California. He previously reported on the environment in New Jersey, covering energy, pollution, wildlife and development. Steven\u2019s work has appeared in several publications including NJ.com\/The Star Ledger, hMAG, The Jersey Journal and The Hudson Reporter. He worked as a copywriter at Google. Steven has a master\u2019s degree from Syracuse University\u2019s S.I. Newhouse School Of Public Communications. He is fluent in English and Spanish (and welcomes your tips).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA PAULA, Calif.\u2014As he slowly pulled his beige van into the driveway following a trip to the hardware…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,37213,8717,8390,1824,50706],"class_list":["post-329203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-carbon-california","tag-environmental-justice","tag-oil","tag-oil-spill","tag-water-contamination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}