By Lookout Staff

June 24, 2015 -- Santa Monica-area state Sen. Ben Allen will be part of a committee investigating last month's oil spill at Refugio State Beach that killed dozens of animals and resulted in ugly tar balls washing up on South Bay beaches miles away.

Along with four Senate colleagues representing coastal communities, Allen, D-Santa Monica, was appointed to the Senate Select Committee on the Refugio Oil Spill. Members will examine what caused the May 19 spill, and how officials responded to the environmental disaster and its impacts, officials announced this week at a news conference in Sacramento.

State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials have said a corroded pipeline owned or built by Plains All American Pipeline ruptured May 19, eventually releasing an estimated 101,000 gallons of oil into the ocean off the state beach in Santa Barbara. Refugio State Beach and El Capitan State Beach both remain closed, state parks officials said.

At least 22 birds and 14 mammals died and nearly 70 animals were injured after being affected by oil. Thousands of workers, boats and helicopters joined to clean up the spill and its aftermath, state Fish and Wildlife said in a recent online update.

On Monday, Fish and Wildlife officials announced they have confirmed through lab analyses that thousands of tar balls that washed up on Manhattan Beach days after the spill were from oil from the ruptured pipeline. Oily globs also were reportedly found as far south as San Clemente Beach in Orange County.

Allen, a former Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board member, said Monday he'll work to thoroughly investigate what happened.

“Unfortunately, we now have confirmation of what we feared was the case -- that the tar balls washing up on our South Bay beaches came from the Refugio oil spill in Santa Barbara,” Allen said on his website.

“As a member of the newly created Senate Select Committee on the Refugio Oil Spill, I will be working with my colleagues in the days and weeks ahead to thoroughly investigate how this tragic environmental disaster was allowed to happen, what changes can be made to prevent such a devastating spill in the future, and what can be done to hold the responsible parties accountable.”

Allen will be joined on the committee by Sens. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, and Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, who will chair the committee.

“As someone who has visited the spill site, walked the beach, seen the oil-covered rocks and smelled the fumes, I can tell you that the destruction to wildlife and our beautiful pristine coastline has been gut-wrenching,” Jackson said at Monday's news conference. “This spill must renew our resolve to protect our magnificent coastline.”

The select committee will hold its first hearing Friday in the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, at 2 p.m. Held in conjunction with the state Assembly's Natural Resources Committee, the hearing will be open to the public, Jackson's office said on her website.

In response to the spill, Jackson has introduced legislation aimed at speeding up the response time to oil spills by creating a voluntary program enlisting local fishermen as paid contractors “who can immediately respond to oil spills.”

SB 414 also would require that two oil skimmers be kept available at all times along the Santa Barbara coastline.

“Our extraordinary coastline is far too vital to be placed at risk of this type of spill ever again,” said Allen.