The California State Fire Marshal waived pipeline corrosion regulations for the Las Flores Pipeline System to upstream oil company Sable Offshore on Dec. 17. The same pipeline ruptured in 2015 near Refugio Beach, spilling 450,000 gallons of oil in the largest oil spill on the Pacific coast.
A public hearing will take place on Feb. 25 at the County Administration Building regarding county permits for the pipeline. Nexus File Photo
The Environmental Defense Center – a legal nonprofit – is currently appealing the transfer of pipeline permits from its former owner ExxonMobil to Sable.
Jeremy Frankel, a staff attorney for the Environmental Defense Center, said that the Santa Ynez Unit — the offshore platforms that the pipelines service — was responsible for roughly half of Santa Barbara County’s greenhouse gas emissions when it was operational from 1993 to 2015.
The 2014 California Air Resources Board pollution map lists the Exxon Mobil Las Flores Canyon (LFC) and Pacific Offshore Pipeline Company (POPCO) facilities as major county polluters during that year.
Frankel said that the waiver allows Sable to operate without having effective cathodic protection. This technology is integral as the corrosion on the pipeline led to the rupture in 2015.
“It’s this lack of effective cathodic protection that ultimately led to the spill in 2015,” he said.
The OSFM waived certain regulations concerning cathodic protection and seam weld corrosion. Cathodic protection prevents corrosion that occurs through oxidation and eventual breakdown of a pipeline’s interior and exterior. Seam weld corrosion occurs where two sections of a pipe are welded together.
“We appreciate the state Fire Marshal’s approval, recognizing our robust safety measures, which go above and beyond state and federal requirements, including the federal court’s Consent Decree,” Sable Offshore’s Vice President of Environmental and Governmental Affairs Steve Rusch said.
According to Frankel, the pipelines — built in the 1980s — “are at the end of their useful lives.”
“They were projected to be operational for about 30 years back in the 80s. Now, the pipelines [are] going on 40 years,” Frankel said.
According to an email statement from the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), waivers are granted based on “extensive” engineering analysis by the office, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and Sable. The statement further states that waiving certain regulations does not negate the pipeline from being “operated in a safe manner.”
“State waivers, when granted, place more stringent compliance requirements on the operator seeking a waiver than a pipeline would normally be subject to,” the statement read. “The objective of a state waiver is to ensure pipeline safety that exceeds the baseline established under existing law.”
According to a statement from Rusch, the restart of the pipeline, “is authorized and ultimately controlled by the process outlined in the federal consent decree.” The consent decree dictates that several processes and requirements must be met before the pipeline is once again operational.
Some of the larger requirements include the transfer of county permits which are being appealed, the Fire Marshal waiver, permits for repair work on the pipeline’s valves from the California Coastal Commission and a decommissioning bond posted to the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM).
The transfer permits being appealed by the EDC and the Center for Biological Diversity will be reconsidered at the end of February, and the decommissioning bond is still being estimated.
According to the Santa Barbara Independent, Sable spokesperson Alice Walton stated that the company’s proposal contains “state-of-the-art internal and external inspection” programs that will be deployed 10 times more frequently than currently required to address “potential anomalies.” Anomalies refer to areas where corrosion is more likely to occur.
At the time of the 2015 spill, the line was under federal jurisdiction and was inspected every five years. After being transferred to the OSFM after the spill, inspections became annual. The waiver is not final as the PHMSA now has 60 days since Dec. 17, or until Feb. 15 to object to or approve the waiver.
Frankel said the Office of Spill Prevention has rejected Sable’s oil spill contingency plan and response three times so far.
President Trump’s pro-oil stance may permit more companies to initiate oil production on the Central Coast. In particular, he may challenge former President Biden’s ban on new oil leasing off the coast. This ban does not affect the Las Flores Pipelines since it was operative in the past.
“[Trump may] try to reopen drilling off the California coast here. So we’ll be vigilant, and we’ll just have to see what happens,” Frankel said.
A public hearing will take place on Feb. 25 at the County Administration Building regarding county permits for the pipeline.
The Nexus will continue to report on this topic as more information becomes available.
A version of this article appeared on p. 6 of the Jan. 23, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.
