Oil spill threat to San Francisco

About one million gallons (3.8 million litres) of diesel fuel have been spilled from a broken pipeline near San Francisco Bay in the United States.

The break in the pipeline connecting the California cities of Concord and Sacramento occurred on Tuesday night, Coast Guard spokesman Glynn Smith said.

It spilled the fuel around Suisun Bay - feeding San Francisco Bay.

The spillage has been contained - but it was not clear why it was not made public until Thursday.

Weather helping

The spill was discovered on Wednesday - apparently the result of a rupture near Fairfield.

The company that operates the pipeline, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, said they had shut down the pipeline and contained the spill.

Emergency teams have begun cleaning up the area about 25 miles (40km) north-east of San Francisco.

They used booms to contain the oil, and then laid down pads to absorb it.

Coast guard officials said the hot weather was helping them with the clean up, as some of the fuel was evaporating.