Workers who were reportedly putting dirt on top of an oil spill instead of cleaning it up have been kicked off the Bell Lease site in Santa Maria. The spill is one of several Greka cleaning up, which happened last Thursday, January 31st..
The EPA says when inspectors saw the oil under the fresh dirt and not fully cleaned up the workers were ordered off the site as part of an enforcement action by the Environmental Protection Agency.
A recommendation is also going to be made to begin issuing a fine against Greka. EPA is now overseeing clean up at this site because of the hazardous spill.

KEY NEWS Reporter John Palminteri brings you the story.

Greka is also considering mass layoff. Here's a statement from the facility.

The Company is Considering Laying off 100 Workers and Contemplating Legal Action Against Santa Barbara County Because of its Unfair and Discriminatory Actions
SANTA MARIA, CA, Feb. 1, 2008 - Greka Oil and Gas Inc. announced today that unfair and selective enforcement by Santa Barbara County regulators, including stop work orders affecting 95 percent of its production, has forced the Company to consider laying off 100 workers, nearly half its workforce.

Greka said layoff notices would have been issued today, but the Company decided to postpone the action in the hope that the County's regulators will lift the onerous stop work orders so the employees can go back to work.

"Certainly, we want to avoid disrupting these workers and their dependents during uncertain economic times," said Greka President Andrew deVegvar. "They have asked to remain on the job to work on the Greka Green program, and we as a result have postponed the layoffs."

Greka will continue to cooperate with regulators and pursue its previously announced efforts to improve its facilities. But it is also considering legal options to protect its employees and facilities from unfair discrimination, Mr. deVegvar said.

Greka announced a major "Greka Green" initiative Jan. 29, which will affect all of its facilities and is designed to make Greka an environmental leader among Santa Barbara County's oil and gas operators. The initiative will remove tons of out-of-service equipment and develop a system-wide Infrastructure Improvement Plan.

However, the Company has been hampered in its efforts by the regulators' "selective attack" which has materially damaged the Company and placed at risk the livelihoods of over 200 families in a tough economy, Mr. deVegvar said
"The County's actions are a transparent attempt to close all of Greka's facilities," said Mr. deVegvar. "With this aggressive and selective inspection schedule, the County is circumventing the law and trying to shut down our facilities one by one."
Mr. deVegvar added that "Greka has been unfairly singled out by the County for enforcement actions that are not being applied against other producers in similar situations."
The Company noted that when 10 barrels of sulfolane leaked out of the Popco Oil facility on Jan. 23 due to a mechanical failure and flowed into Las Flores Creek and subsequently into the ocean, the County Fire Department's public comments minimized the incident.

The Jan. 29 incident at Greka's Bell facility is a perfect example of the County Fire Department's onerous and selective enforcement actions against Greka, Mr. deVegvar said.

The Bell facility was shut down under a County Fire Department stop work order after the Dec. 7 spill, which Greka has determined was the result of sabotage. The Jan. 29 spill was released from the facility's upper pond through an out-of-service pipe that broke as a result of the heavy rains.
"For a month, Greka had been requesting the Fire Department to allow us to at least inject, but they would not lift the stop work order so the injection pumps could be started, the pond drained and the out-of-service pipe safely capped," Mr. deVegvar said.

"State Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources officials finally convinced the Fire Department to give us permission, but the permission was given too late to drain the pond and make the out-of-service pipe accessible in time. If it weren't for DOGGR stepping in prudently, there would have been a lot more problems due to the rains."

Since acquiring its Santa Barbara County facilities nine years ago, Greka has spent tens of millions of dollars for upgrades to the existing physical plant and installation of new equipment, including new alarm systems to monitor pumps, tanks and other installations and alert the company to problems.

Greka has never been identified on the list of major California spills compiled by the state Department of Fish and Game. In 2007 Greka reduced oil spills by 35 percent, while reported oil spills by the City of Santa Barbara increased 25 percent.

Greka's record of incidents per well is right in the middle of the pack when compared to other operators in Santa Barbara County, according to data provided by the County staff. Greka operates approximately 40 percent of the wells in the County and is responsible for approximately 40 percent of the incidents.

Greka has found evidence that the recent spills at its facilities in December 2007 and January 2008 were the result of sabotage. The evidence was compiled by security consultant Tom Parker, a former senior FBI agent and Deputy Chief of the Los Angeles Regional Office of the FBI who has been a corporate security consultant for 14 years.
The Company has stated publicly that the County should be pursuing the vandals who caused the damage, not penalizing hardworking Santa Maria families with their tactics.
"Greka employees have been working around the clock since the sabotage, often in the rain, and have cleaned everything up," Mr. deVegvar said. "Rather than being praised, they are the subject of an onslaught."
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