State Atty. Gen Kamala Harris said Thursday that her office was weighing potential criminal charges against operators of the pipeline that ruptured and spilled more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil along the Santa Barbara County coast last month.

“We’re going to go where the evidence takes us,” Harris said after touring the sprawling cleanup operation on the rustic coast just north of Santa Barbara.

She said she was troubled by federal regulators’ report Wednesday that corrosion had eaten away nearly half of the metal wall of the pipeline that failed.

“Certainly, it’s something that we’re taking very seriously,” Harris told a news conference with a bank of news cameras under a palm tree as waves crashed on the shore behind her.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.