Pipeline
Plains crude pipeline — East Los Angeles rupture and river spill
22 May 2026 · Around 03:20 local time
East Los Angeles, California, United States
What happened
A crew installing fiber-optic cable punctured a 16-inch Plains West Coast crude pipeline in two places. About 2,400 gallons escaped before a valve was shut roughly 30 minutes later, and some oil entered the Los Angeles River. Wildlife responders recovered nearly 80 oiled birds, at least 11 of which died. The line transports crude from Kern County toward the Port of Long Beach.
When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- High
- Infrastructure
- Pipeline
- Latitude
- 34.0400°
- Longitude
- -118.1700°
Attribution
Responsibility has not been established in the cited reporting.