Pipeline Rupture Closes Freeway Lanes for 2 Hours

An underground pipeline ruptured during a pressure test Wednesday morning, showering the Golden State Freeway with water containing green dye and oil residue that closed the southbound lanes for two hours near the Los Angeles County line.

Authorities said the spill from the pipe, which was buried in a ditch alongside the freeway, caused no accidents or environmental damage.

The 5:15 a.m. break about six miles north of Gorman occurred in a 10-inch-wide pipe that was under high-pressure testing for leaks, the California Highway Patrol said. The heated crude oil normally pumped through the pipe had been replaced for testing purposes with dyed green water.

Pressure in the pipe--operated by Four Corners Pipe Line Co., a subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Co.--caused about 110,000 gallons of the fluid to shoot 30 feet into the air and onto all four southbound lanes, the CHP said.