California Allows Dangerous Santa Barbara Oil Project to Move Forward
December 19, 2024
State Fire Marshal waives safety requirements for restart of the pipeline that caused the 2015 Refugio spill, paving the way for another disaster on the California coast
Santa Barbara, CA – Plans to restart the failed Plains pipeline – the same one that caused a massive oil spill on the Central Coast almost ten years ago – got a major push forward this week from the California State Fire Marshal.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) approved a waiver allowing the pipeline to operate without effective protection against corrosion, according to a filing by Sable, the Texas oil company attempting to restart a massive drilling and processing operation in Santa Barbara County formerly owned by ExxonMobil.
The decision, made without public input or environmental review, is a critical step forward for the company’s plans to restart the three offshore platforms, two onshore processing facilities, and other equipment known as the Santa Ynez Unit on the Gaviota Coast.
“The Central Coast has already lived through two major oil spill disasters, including one caused by this same pipeline,” said Alex Katz, Executive Director of the Environmental Defense Center (EDC), a nonprofit environmental law firm opposing the pipeline restart. “California should be leading the country to address the climate crisis and phase out this kind of unsafe and unnecessary fossil fuel production. Instead, by clearing the way for this project, the Newsom administration is bringing back a massive source of greenhouse gas emissions and inviting another environmental disaster in our own state.”
In 2015, the heavily corroded Plains All-American pipeline ruptured near Refugio State Beach. The spill devastated 150 miles of the California coast, destroyed thousands of acres of shoreline and subtidal habitat, killed untold numbers of animals, including hundreds of marine mammals, shut down beaches, fisheries, and businesses, and resulted in criminal convictions of the former owner.
According to a draft Environmental Impact Report by Santa Barbara County, restarting this pipeline likely would result in a spill every year, and a major rupture every four years.
The restart plans have generated concern and outrage from community members, environmental groups, and others. Last week, more than 120 organizations signed a letter to Governor Newsom opposing the restart. Previously, a group of 13 state legislators, including Assemblymember Gregg Hart and Senator Monique Limón, wrote to the Fire Marshal asking for an environmental review and public input into the waiver decision – a request that the Fire Marshal apparently ignored.
Because the pipeline lacks an effective system to protect against corrosion, Sable was required to apply for a waiver allowing it to operate. Under federal law, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration now has 60 days to decide whether to approve or deny the waiver.
EDC and its clients, Get Oil Out! (GOO!) and the Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN), will continue to fight this project on all fronts.
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The Environmental Defense Center defends nature and advances environmental justice on California’s Central Coast through advocacy and legal action. Since 1977, EDC has represented more than 140 nonprofit, community-based organizations to protect the Central Coast and the Earth’s climate. EDC is funded through private donations, receiving no government assistance. More at: www.EnvironmentalDefenseCenter.org.
