1,000 barrels of gas oil spill at Port of Long Beach

LOS ANGELES -- BP PLC said Tuesday it was working to clean up about 1,000 barrels of gas oil that leaked from an underground pipeline at the Port of Long Beach.

The leak, first detected Friday morning, occurred in a section of the 12-inch pipeline that is enclosed in concrete and runs beneath a railcar storage yard at the port, the oil company said.

The pipeline carries gas oil -- an ingredient used in refining gasoline and other fuels -- from the port to a refinery.

The company said the leak was contained, adding that none of the gas oil seeped into the ocean or any tributaries, nor had a significant impact on the environment.

Robert Hughes, a spokesman with the state's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, echoed the company's assessment. The agency also said in a statement that it hadn't found any accounts of wildlife being harmed.

BP has come under fire in recent months in the wake of a big oil spill in March in Alaska, the result of extensive internal corrosion in a stretch of pipeline that runs through the state.

The cause of the leak at the port was still under investigation, said Cindy Wymore, a BP spokeswoman.

In a statement, the company said it took full responsibility for the release of gas oil and its clean up.

The Coast Guard said the company's response to the incident met the agency's requirements.

As of Tuesday, about 870 barrels of the spilled gas oil had been recovered from a storm drain storage facility where the substance had collected and mixed with water, Wymore said.

The liquid was being skimmed from the water, she added.

Completing the cleanup, repairing the pipeline and getting it cleared by inspectors was expected to take at least another week, she said.

One of the rail lines running on the area above the pipeline was shut down due to the cleanup effort, Wymore said.

Otherwise, operations at the port were not affected by the leak, said Art Wong, a spokesman for the port.