Leaking California oil pipe’s safeguards not fully working

LOS ANGELES — The ruptured offshore pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil off the Southern California coast this fall did not have a fully functioning leak detection system at the time, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press. But experts say that a properly functioning leak detection system might have been able to catch that things were amiss before an oil sheen spotted on the surface led to the leak’s discovery. “The fact that they did not have the leak detection system working is surprising,” University of Houston pipeline expert Ramanan Krishnamoorti said, noting that the company’s accounting of the accident appeared inconsistent. In its report, Beta said the pipeline’s leak detection system, while not fully functional, still helped to detect and confirm the leak.