Reminder of a 1969 Catastrophe In This Week’s Oil Spill

Back in 1969 a pipeline along the Santa Barbara seafloor exploded, releasing millions of gallons of oil into the ocean. Thousands of birds, fish, and marine animals were killed. At the time it was the worst disaster of the kind and was the catalyst for the modern environmental movement, including the first Earth Day a year later. While subsequent spills were even more disastrous, the 1969 spill still reverberates with environmentalists.