Here's the latest information we have on the oil spill, from state officials:

In response to the oil spill at Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara, state and federal officials have activated something called the Unified Incident Command System which the government organizes to respond to major disasters, such as earthquakes and wildfires. This command is estimating that as much as 105,000 gallons of oil spilled from the pipeline, only a fraction of which entered the ocean.

Reportedly, eight oiled pelicans are being treated. Five birds have been found dead, including a Red-Throated Loon, grebes, and gulls. There have been two oiled juvenile sea lions, one oiled young elephant seal, and one or two oiled dolphins. (It looks as though one of the sea lions has died). It is believed that the highest wildlife mortality likely will be fish and invertebrates living in the kelp forests affected by the spill. More details are at the Oiled Wildlife Care Network website.

"On a holiday weekend when Refugio would normally be covered with camping families, it is devastating to see it covered in oil," said Assemblymember Das Williams, who was at Refugio State Beach today to survey the clean-up. Williams serves as Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, and has promised a hearing on the incident within a month.

18 vessels and about 650 people have been deployed to clean up the spill, including about 350 highly–trained specialists. About 4,500 feet of containment boom has been deployed.

So far, about 9,500 gallons of oil/water mix has been removed from the water, and about 130 garbage bins of oily debris has been collected and removed so far.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is aware of the Western Snowy Plovers at Coal Oil Point Reserve, and they are monitoring the area carefully, with containment booms ready to deploy if necessary.

(photo of Brown Pelicans at a completely different time and place by Michael McCarthy. Photos from the scene by the office of Das Williams.)