Jessica Resnick Ault and Nichola Garoom

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The company operating the pipeline that spilled oil into the Pacific Ocean near California had a 800-page guide on how to handle an oil spillage. However it’s not clear if its workers followed these procedures.

Houston-based Amplify Energy (NYSE:) Corp, several states and federal regulatory agencies provided different accounts of Oct. 2’s events. Officially reported was the spillage of a pipeline that polluted beaches and killed wildlife.

U.S. The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration reported that Beta Offshore (Amplify subsidiary operating the pipeline) received a low pressure warning from its control room at 2:30 AM Pacific Time (5:30 A.M. EDT) Oct. 2. This was a signal of a line rupture.

According to former employees of Beta Offshore and their contractors, the leak detection alarm should have prompted quick phone calls to supervisors, boat crews, regulators, and U.S. Coast Guard personnel. They then set about shutting down the platform and pipeline that supplies it.

However, the San Pedro Bay Pipeline didn’t close until 6 a.m. Pacific (about three and a-half hours later), according to PHMSA timeline.

Martyn Williamsher, Amplify’s CEO, has stated that they were not informed of the spillage until after mid-morning.

At a Wednesday news conference, he stated: “We weren’t aware of any spills till 8:09 (Pacific) Saturday morning.” He acknowledged that the oil line was cut off at about 6 AM, but gave no explanation or time frame.

Willsher replied to a reporter asking about Wednesday’s 2:30 a.m. alarm. “We weren’t aware of any alarm at that time.”

He said that the company was also looking into the timeline and was “working with regulators” to determine if any issues should be noted.

Amplify has not responded to comment requests on the remark. Amplify also failed to respond to multiple other comment requests.

Tom Haug is a third party contractor and was listed in the incident commander response plan. Amplify has been referred to questions by their official spokesperson.

It runs 17 miles long and measures 16 inches in diameter.

It is a small spillage compared to others which have caused regulatory changes, like the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, which unleashed more than 5,000,000 barrels of petroleum into the sea.

However, this raises concerns about the efficacy of government-mandated Spill Response Plans, which are intended to make sure companies respond quickly in order to reduce pollution and other hazards.

Investigators are currently investigating the cause of California’s spillage. Officials are looking into whether the spillage was caused by an anchor strike. Investigators found that 105-foot section of the pipeline had been moved and that a 13-inch segment ran parallel to it.

According to the U.S. National Response Center (the designated contact point for environmental accidents), residents and vessels nearby reported that they noticed foul smells, and a sheen, on Friday night. However, the U.S. Coast Guard stated that reports such as these are quite common and don’t always mean there has been a spillage.

“In General-For Spill Response-Do Not Delay. Plan Ahead. Don’t over-respond. If necessary, you can stand aside. Do not get behind on the curve,” Amplify’s response plan says, in laying out a 15-step action plan for reacting to spills.

UNDER PRESSURE

Amplify was the state’s second largest offshore producer, producing 3,600 barrels daily at its California platforms during the second quarter.

Operators were required to be certified by federal regulators in 1994 in order to prevent leakage or rupture of pipelines and platforms. Ex-Amplify workers claim that the company has conducted this training within the past two years.

Amplify could not verify whether these efforts were continued in the COVID-19 epidemic. According to records, Beta did a virtual drill using Microsoft (NASDAQ:) Team platform in California last year. A second drill was planned for the next month.

Two ex-employees said that the software, which was made especially for this platform, monitors pressure at pipeline pumps.

If pressure drops, sensors on the pipeline will alert the Elly platform operator. This triggers an immediate shut down and stops crude oil from flowing into the pipeline.

An ex-employee familiar with line operations said, “After they discovered a single barrel of oil, the pipeline should be closed.”

Willsher stated this week that Amplify employees regularly inspected the pipeline via boat. Another former employee who is familiar with this procedure stated that the company checks the chemical properties to make sure iron levels are low. This would prevent a pipe from deteriorating.

Another former employee recalled U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE), inspectors regularly visited the platform and inspected its pipeline connections. One employee recalled that the inspections took weeks and resulted in citations for small items like corrosion on handrails.

A summary of the October 2019 inspector’s report, filed to the BSEE in March 2020 shows that inspections two years prior determined that the pipeline is sound.