19 Claims Filed After the East LA Oil Spill. One Has Been Approved.

A county survey of nearly 50 businesses near Cesar E. Chavez and Eastern avenues found 70% to 75% revenue losses. Soil work could run into January 2027.

The crude oil that came out of a punctured underground pipeline in East Los Angeles in May — more than 25,000 gallons of it, onto streets and into storm drains — stopped moving weeks ago. The money owed to the businesses it shut down has moved much more slowly. According to LAist, which published reporting by Laura Anaya-Morga that first appeared on The LA Local, 19 businesses had filed claims with pipeline operator Pacific Pipeline System as of Tuesday. One had been approved. Three others were close.

That is the whole pipeline, as of this week: 19 in, one through.

What the week cost

The spill forced street closures along the Cesar E. Chavez Avenue corridor. Owners of restaurants, barbershops and bike shops canceled appointments, delayed deliveries or closed entirely for a week while cleanup crews worked, LAist reported.

The scale of the loss was measured early. In the days after the spill, a survey of nearly 50 businesses near the intersection of East Cesar E. Chavez and Eastern avenues found a 70% to 75% loss in revenue, according to Kelly LoBianco, director of the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity, as quoted by LAist.

“You know how the barbershop gets on a Friday. … We lost a lot of business that week,” Barber Avila, owner of Brooklyn Lab Barbershop, told LAist. Avila, who preferred not to share his first name, has spent the past month assembling tax records, sales reports and expenses for county staff and the operator. His claim was approved this week. He is still waiting on payment.

Paperwork is the bottleneck

The one business in the source reporting that was paid quickly had a bookkeeper. Veronica Ramos, co-owner of the glass and aluminum contractor Ramos Industries, told LAist she was reimbursed a week after filing; the spill had canceled contracted jobs and forced rescheduled deliveries at a fee because trucks could not reach the shop. Ramos said she worries her neighbors will struggle to produce the records a claim requires.

That is the shape of the problem visible in the record: the claim process rewards businesses that already keep books the way a claims administrator wants them kept.

A Pacific Pipeline System spokesperson told LAist that claims are still being accepted and processed, and that a third-party administrator is helping businesses file in English and Spanish. “We understand how important a timely resolution is for those affected and remain committed to working through each claim as efficiently as possible,” the company said. LoBianco did not have details on the amount reimbursed.

The street isn't finished

Months of soil testing and excavation to remove contaminated soil are still ahead, and county officials say the work could continue into January 2027, per LAist. Neither Avila nor Ramos knew about the remaining work, and both worried about how more street closures could hit them again.

“It’s good to keep it in mind,” Ramos said.

If your business was affected

• Pacific Pipeline System claims line: 1-877-817-5465, connecting to a third-party administrator in English and Spanish. The company says there is currently no deadline to file.
• LA County Office of Small Business, for help preparing documentation: (844) 432-4900, osb@opportunity.lacounty.gov, or the East LA Entrepreneurship Center at 4716 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave. Say the request is related to the East LA oil spill.
• Department of Consumer and Business Affairs hotline: (800) 593-8222. Director Rafael Carbajal told LAist that bad actors, including contractors and legal services providers, may prey on communities after environmental disasters; the office helps residents verify them.