Refugio Beach Oil Spill Forensic Match Locations for Source Identification

Santa Barbara County, California, was the site of a pipeline rupture on May 19, 2015, releasing an estimated 21,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean. This dataset from NOAA and partners represents the locations of forensic matches to a specific oil source (line 901) identified in a collaborative chemical fingerprinting study of 22 spill samples and 7 natural seep oils collected one to 14 days after the incident.

Use Cases

• Map the spatial distribution of a specific oil source based on forensic chemical matches.
• Support environmental damage assessment and restoration planning based on the identified spill sources.
• Compare anthropogenic spill signatures with natural seep oils based on the study's sample characterization.

Strengths

• Study focused on 22 oil/oily samples collected within a defined 14-day window after the May 19, 2015 spill.
• Analysis includes comparison with 7 natural seep oil samples for context.
• Data is associated with a specific, documented environmental incident with an estimated 21,000-gallon release.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic/temporal bias inherent to the single spill event.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collaborative chemical fingerprinting study of collected oil and seep samples.

Time Range

Samples collected one to 14 days following the May 19,我们发现 2015 spill.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:31:04.417704; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Refugio State Beach, Santa Barbara County, California, and surrounding marine environment.