A landslide apparently ruptured an oil pipeline Wednesday that spilled up to 477,000 liters (126,000 gallons) of crude into a reservoir that provides water to Southern California cities, officials said. Officials said they had cordoned off the affected area of Pyramid Lake and were not concerned about potential contamination of the region's drinking water. "These kinds of spills are usually pretty localized," said Henry Martinez, chief operating officer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which uses water from the reservoir to generate power. The light crude oil spill occurred about 1.6 kilometers (a mile) east of the lake, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Los Angeles. Firefighters closed several lanes of Interstate 5, a major north-south highway, as they rushed to isolate the area and build a dike to keep more oil from pouring into the lake. The Forest Service and state Department of Fish and Game were working with pipeline owner Pacific Energy Partners to control the oil. Arthur G. Diefenbach, a senior vice president for the company and its subsidiary, Pacific Pipeline Systems, said officials believe the spill was caused by a landslide, but "it's a little early to tell." --SP 1348 Local Time 1048 GMT
