TORO INCIDENT UPDATE: 1/6/23 – FINAL UPDATE

Date of Incident: 1/1/23
Incident Name: Toro Incident
Location: 1073 Toro Canyon Rd., Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County
Product details: Crude Oil

On January 6, Unified Command (Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara County Fire
Department, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and
Response (CDFW-OSPR)) officially concluded the response to the Toro Incident.

Crews completed surveys today of the response area and the shoreline around the mouth of the creek
and determined that no additional recoverable product remains in the environment. Santa
Barbara County will continue to monitor the area throughout the upcoming storms to ensure that
no additional product is released and will resume standard maintenance operations at the site.

The amount of oil discharged, impacts, and cause are currently under investigation. Questions
related to the ongoing maintenance of the site should be directed to Santa Barbara County
Public Works Public Information Officer, Lael Wageneck, at (805)568-3425.

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TORO INCIDENT UPDATE: 1/3/23

Date of Incident: 1/1/23
Incident Name: Toro Incident
Location: 1073 Toro Canyon Rd., Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County
Product details: Crude Oil

Unified Command (Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara County Fire Department, and the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFWOSPR)) continue to manage the Toro Incident. Approximately 50-60 personnel – including
Unified Command – have been assigned to the Toro Incident. Response activities include
surveying the area for oil and impacted wildlife, clean up operations and preparing for upcoming
rain.

No oil from the Toro Incident has been observed in the creek south of Highway 192 at Toro
Canyon Road, including the beach and ocean. Pacific Petroleum California continues to clean
up and reduce the impacts of the spill to the community, environment, and wildlife.

CDFW-OSPR has activated Wildlife Branch with the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) to
address potential impacts to wildlife. As of 8 a.m. on January 3, there are no reports of oiled
wildlife. Anyone observing oiled wildlife should not attempt to capture it. Instead, please report
observations of oiled wildlife to the oiled wildlife hotline at 1-877-UCD-OWCN (1-877-823-6926).
Volunteers are not requested at this time. If volunteers are needed in the future, information will
be available at Calspillwatch.wildlife.ca.gov.

The amount of oil discharged, impacts, and cause are currently under investigation.

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TORO INCIDENT UPDATE: 1/2/23

A Unified Command between Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara County Fire
Department, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill
Prevention and Response has been established to manage the Toro Incident.

At 11:30 a.m. on January 1, Montecito Fire Protection District and Carpinteria
Summerland Fire District personnel responded to a report of oil in a creek in the 1000
block of Toro Canyon Road. First responders from South Coast Hazmat Response
Team (Carpinteria, Montecito, Santa Barbara City, and Santa Barbara County Fire
Departments) responded and initiated protective actions that included damming, and
the use of absorbent pads and booms to minimize the impact of the oil.

The oil is from a natural seepage well built by the Occidental Oil Company in 1882. The
Environmental Protection Agency retrofitted the site to prevent seepage in the 1990s by
building an oil and water separator facility at the well. The County has monitored that
facility since 2009.

The Toro Incident Unified Command has contracted Pacific Petroleum California for
cleanup to reduce the impacts to the community, environment and wildlife.

While there are currently no reports of affected wildlife, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Oiled Wildlife Care Network has been activated.

The amount of oil released, impacts, and cause are currently under investigation.

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