Crude oil spills onto Cesar Chavez Avenue in East L.A. after pipeline rupture
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
A pipeline rupture in East Los Angeles early Friday morning resulted in a crude oil spill, according to officials.
Firefighters responded around 3:20 a.m. to a report of a hazardous material incident near East Cesar Chavez and North Eastern avenues, according to Los Angeles County Fire Captain Aaron Katon.
Wildlife officials said they found oiled birds after a pipe ruptured in East Los Angeles on May 22, 2026.
A crew boring a 6-inch hole 10 feet underground to lay fiber-optic cable hit a pipeline that also runs 10 feet under the street transporting crude oil from Kern County to the Port of Los Angeles, Katon said.
There was a leak of five gallons per second as crews immediately got to work trying to contain the spill, Katon said. There was a significant enough quantity of oil that it got into the storm drain. The pipeline operator shut down the pipeline within 30 minutes.
Officials are focusing on protecting the environment, as crews have teams measuring the extent of the flows and working with collaborating agencies, Katon said.
It’s too early to estimate how much crude oil was released. Crews are expected to be at the scene for hours.
California Highway Patrol issued an alert around 7:30 a.m. that the intersection is closed in all directions for six hours.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
William Mulholland was the water boss who made L.A. possible. His reputation gave him unchecked authority as a dam builder. In 1928, that led to one of America’s deadliest disasters--and the question of whether it was a crime.
It started as a ploy to scare Texas out of redrawing its congressional map and ended with California voters approving a new map of their own, one that could hat could help alter the balance of power in Washington.
On this week’s episode of Boiling Point, Miranda Green speaks with Los Angeles Times climate reporter Hayley Smith about how AI bots are meddling in California’s clean energy policymaking.
