Plains All American Pipeline's claim that it could take "months" to determine the cause of the May 19 Santa Barbara spill doesn't make sense to other experts in the field.
"These are steel pipes," said Richard Kuprewicz, president of Accufacts, a Bellingham, Wash.-based energy consulting company. "This isn't rocket science—a visual examination will usually show the cause of the failure. So, saying they're going to need months to determine the cause of the rupture? It would be very concerning to me if there are any requests for secrecy or to have any evidence sealed. Have they even found the leak yet? It should not have taken this long."