The company that manages the oil pipeline that spilled more than 120,000 gallons of crude oil onto Santa Barbra County beaches and into the ocean has restarted oil production on the 10th anniversary of the spill.
The spill took place on May 19, 2015 due to a corroded pipeline owned by Plains All American Pipeline. The crude oil spilled just north of the Refugio State Beach on the Gaviota Coast that killed marine life, destroyed habitat and closed local businesses resulting in financial impacts to the county estimated as high as $74 million with another $96 million in cleanup costs.
The pipeline and production, now owned by Sable Offshore Corp, have been turned off since the spill with a series of lawsuits and legal orders between the oil company and various public agencies.
On Monday, the 10 year anniversary of the Refugio Oil Spill, Sable Offshore announced it has restarted production at the Santa Ynez Unit, three oil platforms located in the Santa Barbara Channel, and has begun flowing oil production to Las Flores Canyon, the oil processing facility located onshore above El Capitan.
Sable Offshore also announced the “anomaly repairs” on the Las Flores Pipeline System was completed on Sunday.
Sable expects to fill over 540,000 barrels of crude oil storage capacity at Las Flores Canyon by the middle of June 2025 and subsequently recommence oil sales in July 2025.
“SOC is proud to have safely and responsibly achieved first production at the Santa Ynez Unit” said Jim Flores, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He continued, “The impressive well tests from Platform Harmony confirm the prolific nature of the Santa Ynez Unit reservoir after being dormant for ten years. SOC is excited about our development plan and prospects for the future. This milestone achievement is a result of a tremendous amount of effort from all of Sable’s employees, contractors, Board of Directors, stakeholders, and suppliers. We are very grateful for the cooperation and partnership from our local community and regulatory bodies as we seek to provide energy security to the State of California.”
Community Hosts Paddle Out for 10th Anniversary of Refugio Oil Spill
Environmentalists and activists are not happy with Sable restarting the pipeline, especially on a monumental anniversary where local nonprofits organized a remembrance event on Sunday that included a paddle out to the site of the 2015 spill.
“The fact that Sable is announcing the restart of production on the 10th anniversary of the Refugio Oil Spill that devastated 150 miles of coastline shows how little regard the company has for the people and environment of California, said Alex Katz, Executive Director of the Environmental Defense Center. “EDC, our clients, and partners are fighting from every angle to prevent the failed pipeline from ever restarting. Yesterday’s community gathering demonstrated that we stand united in protecting our coast from another devastating oil spill.”
Besides commemorating the spill, Sunday’s “paddle out” also served as a call to action against the Houston-based oil company’s efforts, despite outcry from city officials and environmental organizations.
“Surfrider Foundation Santa Barbara Chapter was on the scene to witness the devastation of the 2015 Plains All American spill at Refugio first hand while the impacts stretched to Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange County, in addition to the Santa Barbara Channel,” said Bill Hickman, Central California Sr. Regional Manager for Surfrider Foundation. “The 10th anniversary is a reminder that we need to stop offshore oil drilling and their environmental impacts in favor of a clean energy future. It was great to join with community members for an inspiring paddle out and commemorative event.”
Last month, Sable was fined a record $18 million for defying state orders to stop work on the pipeline. However, on May 9, the California Department of Parks and Recreation issued a notice of exemption to Sable Offshore from environmental review for construction work on the Refugio oil pipeline.
“Thus far, not a single state agency is taking responsibility for environmental review for a pipeline that will move 1-2 million barrels of oil through sensitive coastal areas, adding millions of tons of climate harming pollution to California’s air,” said Ilonka Zlatar, an organizer with the Oil and Gas Action Network (OGAN). “State Parks granting an exemption from CEQA for pipeline repairs flies in the face of the state’s climate goals and the health of Californians and our natural lands.”
Environmental Defense Center, Sierra Club, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Sacred Places Institute, OGAN, Food & Water Watch, Center for Biological Diversity, Surfrider Foundation and dozens of other groups participated in the “paddle out” and are members of the “Don’t Enable Sable” campaign.
“As coastal Peoples who have been here since time immemorial, the Chumash want our waters and lands to be safe and healthy once again,” said Tina Calderon, Ocean Protectors Program Director at Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples. “We acknowledge sxa’min, the salt waters as the oldest of ecosystems and we feel strongly that all life which dwells there should be treated with care and respect. With gratitude we thank all who have done their part to voice the need to stop offshore oil drilling and most recently have rallied to stop Sable from reactivating the corroded oil pipeline that caused so much destruction in 2015 at Refugio State Beach which is called Qasil by the Chumash Nation. We call upon others to stand in unity, post widely and say enough is enough – save our ocean!”
Related Articles
https://www.edhat.com/news/exxon-mobil-and-sable-file-lawsuit-against-santa-barbara-county-over-permit-delays-state-parks-issues-exemption/
https://www.edhat.com/news/santa-barbara-supervisors-reach-stalemate-on-sable-pipeline-permit-amid-public-outcry/
https://www.edhat.com/news/coastal-commission-slaps-18-million-fine-on-sable-offshore-for-unauthorized-work/
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Sable bastards thumbing their noses at the world. Get Oil Out!
The timing was deliberate. A total middle finger to the people of SB County.
Only a finger to the nimby hypocrites actually.
BASIC – after your rant about allowing some homes for homeless people in an abandoned drive in theater lot nowhere near any residential neighborhoods or retail shopping, you’re the last person here to call anyone a NIMBY.
No one talks about the downside of wind and solar
RUBY – that’s just a lie. Look at any article about renewable energy or oil here.
And the reason there aren’t many scientists or environmental experts talking about it, is well…… because most of the “downsides” are lies or hyperbole and any actual downsides are minimal, especially in comparison to oil and gas production.
Read more.
LOL, you must live under a rock.
It is the highest point in his anatomy.
A lot of these NGO environmental groups are good at finding a bunch of young people to do a “paddle out”. Fun right? Meanwhile, they’re all collectively consuming just as much petroleum as everyone else, but just not aware of it. But hey, the ‘paddle out’ looks good on camera? Classic nimby. Let Oklahoma or Saudi Arabia deal with it!!
The usual oily specious argument.
This “ecologist” thinks it’s all the same risk to sentitive ecosystems to drill in the ocean as it is to drill in desolate, open plains.
A true “water man” dissing young people for caring about the coastline he pretends to fish.
What a wannabe.
Yeah, they should be sitting on their old asses complaining.
Right?
““The fact that Sable is announcing the restart of production on the 10th anniversary of the Refugio Oil Spill that devastated 150 miles of coastline shows how little regard the company has for the people and environment of California.”
Making the announcement on the 10th anniversary was indeed the ol’ “middle finger” to all of us. I don’t know why they felt that they needed to make the announcement at all. If anything, they should have waited at least until the day after the 10th anniversary. From their perspective, the pipeline was fixed, approved for use, and now they can get back to making money on their investment.
All you proponents of the alleged renewable characteristics of solar and wind should be aware of the environmental damage done by such farms and the immense amount of land needed to provide electricity. The Ivanpah solar plant South of Las Vegas, built for over 2 Billion dollars, has never created the amount of electricity estimated is going to be mothballed after a mear 11 years. This onw farm not only destucted habitat for desert animals, it has killed about 6,000 birds a year. Again over 6,000 birds per year; that is tens of thousands of birds killed from this one farm alone. The overall population of birds in the areas of solar and wind farms hare greatly diminished.
Zappers and Swatters creating a new silent spring, under the guise of being enviromentally friendly…. Give me a break. Look at what each and everyone of us use every day – PLASTIC containers, plastic wrap, plastic clothing, solar panels, wind turbines, the list of how our lives depend on petroleum goes on ad infinitum.
GETTHE – everyone who supports renewables, and even those who work in the industry, are fully aware of the very minimal downsides. That’s never been ignored. Problem with people like you is that you refuse to read the facts and insist on relying on memes and Parler for your “facts” about everything. The FACTS are that the downsides are FAR OUTWEIGHED by the benefits. And they are FAR LESS than the damage that oil does. Full stop. Period.
That is a very easily verifiable fact. Why you people refuse to accept it is due entirely to politics and/or willful ignorance.
And “alleged renewable?”
You keep saying this. Please explain how, in your mind, the wind and the sun are not renewable sources of power? Can you?
Hahahaha – Parlor – does that even exist anymore – hahahaha…….
SAC, I bet all your clothes are nylon.
The materials that go into creating wind turbines and solar panels are not reneable nor do they last permanently.
There are other energy sources out there, but we continue to subsidize “renewables”. Why do we still have to subsidize, if they are so good. Even Amazon gets $7k for their electric vans.
GETTHE – oh, so it failed just like all the other MAGA things? Yeah, I wouldn’t know so you got me there… hahahaha….
Solar panel and wind turbine blades are almost 100% recyclable. Again, stop reading memes and getting your facts from Landman. You’re just wrong.
Why can’t you explain how the wind and sun are not renewable? You keep saying they’re not. Do you understand how any of this works? Clearly not.
So your answer is to keep doing the same thing and not to look for alternatives to petroleum that may be overall cleaner and better for sustainable energy use, the environment, and human health.
Genius.
Gettheoilypropganda, devoid of anything meaningful.
Here are the facts:
https://www.factcheck.org/2024/06/wind-energys-key-environmental-advantage-low-emissions/