UPDATE: State of Emergency issued for Santa Barbara oil spill

UPDATE 8:03 p.m.: Governor Jerry Brown has declared a State of Emergency in Santa Barbara after a massive oil spill off the California Coast.

“This emergency proclamation cuts red tape and helps the state quickly mobilize all available resources. We will do everything necessary to protect California’s coastline,” said Brown.

To read the entire emergency proclamation click here

UPDATE 1:34 p.m.: Two representatives from the CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Santa Cruz office are headed to the Santa Barbara area to help with clean up efforts.

Marine Mammal Center representatives in Moss Landing said their office is on standby and there aren’t any confirmed reports of oiled mammals in the area yet.

UPDATE 5/20/2015: Clean up efforts continue along the Santa Barbara coastline after a large oil spill Tuesday morning. Crews said a ruptured pipeline sent 21,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean at Refugio State Beach and crews are still at the scene working to clean up the mess. So far, 20 barrels of oil have been collected.

Authorities said the oil slick had stretched to about 9 miles wide on Wednesday and it started after 24-inch underground pipeline ruptured. The pipeline pumps about 2,000 barrels of oil an hour – the equivalent of about 84,000 gallons.

The spill was reported Tuesday around noon after concerned residents called 911 after smelling a gasoline-like aroma near the beach. A county fire crew searched the area and found the source. At that time about a half-mile stretch of oil had already spread across the water.

“The beach was just covered with thick black crude oil. The rocks were covered. The waves coming in were just black oil,” David Zaniboni, of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said.

The Coast Guard said the ruptured pipeline belongs to Plains All-American Pipeline, a Texas-based company. At about 2 p.m. Tuesday, crews were able to cap the source. But clean up is far from over. Crews worked overnight to work on clean-up efforts.

Refugio State Beach and the campground at El Capitan State Park are closed. Dozens of campers were told to evacuate.

“It’s really sad. It’s really sad. I hope they can clean it up. It’s just a lot of damage out there,” Zaniboni said.

With Memorial Day weekend just days away, the park said it typically expects about 3,000 campers.

There is a moratorium on fishing in the area until further notice.

The Coast Guard is planning to fly over the area to get a better idea of how large the spill is on Wednesday.

UPDATE 9:41 p.m. The day use area of El Capitan State Park will be closed Wednesday due to the oil spill.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 20 barrels of oil have been retrieved from the scene.

If you see a wild animal impacted by the oil spill contact the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at 877-823-6926.

UPDATE 6:56p.m.: State officials are not releasing the amount of oil spilled. But Coast Guard crews are estimating about 21,000 gallons.

We are told people who live around the state beach are self-evacuating because of the overly strong odor.

NewsChannel 5’s sister station is on scene trying to get more information from the response teams as well as reaction from campers; they are also checking into closures at the state beach ahead of the busy Memorial Day weekend.

4:53p.m.: The U.S. Coast Guard reports an oil spill off the coast of Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County Tuesday afternoon.

Officials said the spill is now four miles wide and attribute the cause to a ruptured pipeline. Investigators with Santa Barbara County Fire, State Parks, the U.S. Coast Guard and ExxonMobil employees said they offered assistance at Incident Command.

The company that owns the pipeline is Plains All American Pipeline LP.

Officials reported the oil source was shut down by about 2 p.m. but there is still some oil seeping out.

Crews said they are working to protect marine and wildlife in the area.