The Santa Barbara County oil spill may have released 105,000 gallons

The oil pipeline that ruptured in Santa Barbara County, California, on Tuesday may have spilled as much as 105,000 gallons of crude, with tens of thousands entering the ocean, officials with Plains All American Pipeline said.

The company came up with the estimate by looking at the 24-inch-wide underground line's elevation and flow rate, which averages roughly 50,400 gallons an hour, the Los Angeles Times reports, and they believes 21,000 gallons made it into the water off of Refugio State Beach after the oil seeped through the ground to a culvert. The pipe will be excavated, and investigators won't know what caused the rupture until that takes place.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the oil slicks are stretching across nine miles of coastline, and local residents have spotted wildlife, including pelicans and lobsters, covered in oil. Plains All American district manager Darren Palmer said during a news conference that the company is "sorry this accident happened, and we're sorry for the inconvenience to the community," but that's not enough for Santa Barbara County Supervisor Doreen Farr. "This stretch of the California coast is unique to the world," she said. "This is more than an inconvenience. This is a disaster."

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