Refugio Intertidal Habitat Exposure Zones with Max Oiling - Exposure (Updated 2018)

On May 19, 2015, a pipeline owned ruptured in Santa Barbara County, California, near Refugio State Beach. An estimated 21,000 gallons of the oil flowed overland from the break site into the Pacific Ocean and spread across the marine environment. NOAA and our state and federal partners are investigating these impacts and will determine the amount of restoration needed to return the environment to the condition it was in before the spill and to compensate the public for environmental degradation from the time of the spill until recovery.

This layer is composed of a series of polygons that represent a derived inter-tidal zone and is divided by the level of oil exposure into zones of High, Medium A, Medium B, and Low. This was determined by data and information collected to support the Refugio Beach Oil Spill NRDA.