Oil pipeline spills thousands of gallons near California coast

An pipeline in southern California spilled up to 29,400 gallons of oil Thursday just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean.

The leak spurred a hurried emergency response; firefighters were able to stop the oil before it reached the ocean, the Los Angeles Times reports.

{mosads}The spill happened on the northern edge of Ventura in the Hall Canyon area, and was originally estimated at up to 210,000 gallons after it was reported at 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

It flowed into a ravine that leads to the ocean, but it was far enough inland that it would have taken a while to reach the Pacific, the Times said.

The oil left a black sludge on the ground and over plants in the canyon.

The line is owned by Crimson Pipeline, which has about 1,000 miles of pipeline in California and more in Louisiana. It was carrying oil for Aera Energy.

Crimson shut off the pipeline quickly after the breach, but gravity pushed more oil out of the pipe.

The spill happened just over a year after a pipeline owned by Plains All American spilled about 143,000 gallons of oil onto a beach in Santa Barbara County.

That oil went into the ocean and reached as far as Los Angeles.