On Wednesday, an oil spill from a broken onshore pipeline, which fouled beaches and posed threat to wildlife along the California coast, spread across 9 miles of ocean. According to officials, almost 105,000 gallons of oil may have leaked out in the region.

According to estimates, nearly a fifth of that amount entered the sea. The leak was being investigated by federal regulators. They were wearing protective suits and scraped and shoveled stinky black goo off the beaches.

In 1969, there was a much larger spill on the coast. At that time, it was largest in the US. The oil spill was so large that it led to the American environmental movement. When the leak was detected on Tuesday, crude was moving through the pipe at 84,000 gallons an hour. It was shut down after three hours; however company officials didn't tell how long it leaked prior to its discovery. They also haven’t discussed the rate at which oil escaped.

According to Santa Barbara County Supervisor Doreen Farr said, "It's important to remember this stretch of California coastline is unique to the world. It’s beautiful and pristine. This is more than an inconvenience. This is just a disaster. We are taking it very seriously".

Federal regulators from the Department of Transportation look after oil pipeline safety; it investigated reason behind the leak, the pipe's condition in addition to the potential regulatory violations.

According to Plains All American Pipeline LP, owner of the pipe, the 24-inch pipe that was constructed in 1991 had no issues earlier and was carefully inspected in 2012. Darren Palmer, a district manager with the company said that Plains has taken the responsibility of the spill and will also pay for everything related to the spill.