Well, the fact that none of the news media has reported this shows that none of us know about it. We'll look into it and let you know.

Hmm.  Maybe those environmental agitators have grievances after all.  Keep up the good work, Planning Commission.  You are only giving them fuel to add to the fire.

i am interested to know how you know about the oil spill?  do you have direct knowledge of it (first hand ) or is it passed on information?

Ron, thanks for the link, and the shout out on the spill! You would have made a fine reporter in another era. Nobody seems able to afford reporters these days.

Interesting~ Thanks for the information.Maybe you should have called the news?

Here's the information according to Kern County Environmental Health Services, which was notified of the incident when it happened: 

• A city contractor hit a pipeline owned by Shell Oil while working last Sunday.
• 85 barrels of oil sprayed from the pipe, some of which leaked into the nearby Friant-Kern Canal.
• The canal was dry.
• The spilled oil was vacuumed from the canal, affected soil was removed and the concrete canal liners were steam cleaned. No water was contaminated.
• Big West of California learned of the incident and notified Kern County Environmental Health.

Why didn't we write about it? Unlike the ammonia leak, this one did not set off audible alarms that could be heard by surrounding areas instructing people to vacate the area. Also, oil doesn't immediately vaporize into a toxic cloud when it's leaked.

The Friant-Kern was dry?  Are you sure it wasn't the dirt canal that crosses under Rosedale at Fruitvale Ave.? 

So who gets to pay Shell Oil for the 85 barrels of oil and the cost of the repairs to the pipeline?  Who gets to pay for the cleanup?   Why was this guy working on a Sunday? Was someone paying him time and a half or double?  Is that contractor insured?  Did the backhoe operator have to pass any drug screenings before he was hired?  If this guy had been employed by the refinery we would never hear the end of all the complaints.   I suppose if he had been a refinery employee then there would never have been a busted pipeline to repair.

Good job, ronmexico. I'd like to hear the rest of this story. I can't believe this somehow slipped under the radar. Well, maybe I can, lol.

The Dirt.

So, who contacted the paper about the ammonia?? Did the alarms wake up the paper and they rushed out to see what was going on??

Ammonia alarms are not even required to be located around storage tanks.  They are set there so the refinery workers are alerted if something is out of the ordinary.  They are not there to tell the people to vacate the area.

If you really wanted to be a responsible newspaper, may I suggest you investigate the ammonia tanks in Kern County that are not protected by fences,  security patrols or alarm systems.  As a bonus assignment, how about looking into the tons of ammonia that is sprayed on the ground by farmers.  I guess that ammonia doesn't make a toxic cloud like the ammonia at refineries?  How many of these unprotected ammonia tanks are being tapped into by the thousands of meth addicts in this county?

Another bonus assignment... Why didn't the city report the leak to KCHES as they are required by law to do as they caused it and were first to become aware of it?  Why did they dig somewhere without notifying DigAlert or similar agency as is required 48 hours before digging?? Why is the BC giving the City a free pass?  As to date, the  OES has not determined that drinking water was not affected.