40th Anniversary of Massive Oil Spill in Santa Barbara

Forty years ago today, Union Oil's offshore Platform A malfunctioned and an estimated 100,000 gallons of crude flowed into the sea off Santa Barbara for 11 days.

Santa Barbara and Ventura County beaches were sullied with a gooey coating that killed seals, dolphins, birds and other wildlife in an environmental disaster that overwhelmed the Central Coast.

It was Jan. 28, 1969, when the blowout occurred on Platform A, some six miles off the beaches of Summerland.

Some 40 miles of coastline were tarred from Port Hueneme to Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands.