The Office of the State Fire Marshal is currently deciding whether to grant a waiver to upstream company Sable Offshore that would fast-track permission to reopen the same pipeline that caused one of the most damaging oil spills in Santa Barbara history back in 2015.
The Environmental Defense Center has said that restarting the pipeline would likely result in a spill every year and a major rupture every four years. Nexus File Photo
Pipelines CA-324, CA-325A and CA 325B are currently owned by Sable Offshore and run 122 miles from the Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County to the Pentland Delivery Station in Kern County. Owned then by Plains All American, CA-324 ruptured near Refugio Beach in May of 2015, spilling over 400,000 gallons of oil and becoming the second major oil spill in Santa Barbara since a 1969 spill that spurred the modern environmentalist movement.
According to the Environmental Defense Center – a legal nonprofit organization – restarting the pipeline would likely result in a spill every year as well as a major rupture every four years.
In the same statement, the EDC stated that Sable sued the organization and the state in July claiming that releasing information on the pipeline’s condition would, “ compromise national security and the company’s trade secrets.
The Santa Barbara-Ventura Chapter of the Sierra Club — a grassroots environmental organization — released a call to action on Sept. 19.
“Federal officials have already determined the Plains Pipeline is corroded. Trying to use it now, nine years after the Refugio State Beach disaster, would be incredibly irresponsible,” Sierra Club Chapter director Jonathan Ullman said in the statement.
According to Ullman, the pipeline was built in the 1980s and is not safe to reopen even with the safety valves Sable plans to add.
Despite the initial U.S. Department of Transportation Failure Investigation Report stating that roughly 123,000 gallons of oil were spilled during the 2015 incident, a UCSB report found it was closer to 451,000 gallons. The spill left numerous ongoing issues in its aftermath, including over 300 deceased wildlife creatures and the temporary closing of multiple beaches and fisheries.
An ongoing $70 million class action settlement would require the pipeline’s current owner, Sable Offshore, to pay over 90 property owners affected by the spill.
Sable, whose stock is currently valued at 23.63 USD, is seeking a waiver that would modify the regulatory requirements needed to operate if the company shows that its alternative measures are safe.
The decision to grant the waiver will be made internally by the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), which has not expressed when their decision will be publicized.
In February of 2024, Sable Offshore acquired oil and gas corporation ExxonMobile’s Santa Ynez Unit subsidiary Pacific Pipeline Company. According to this contract between ExxonMobile and Sable, if Sable is unable to reopen the pipeline by Dec. 31, 2025, the pipeline will return to Exxon.
Sable Offshore did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the timeline for reopening the pipeline.
The California State Legislature and Environmental Defense Center (EDC) separately sent letters to CAL FIRE Director and Fire Chief Joe Tyler and State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant on Sept. 27, according to correspondence obtained by the Nexus.
The California Legislature letter called for the release of all available documents related to the pipeline’s restart, an Environmental Impact Review and public meetings on the pipeline’s restart that allow public comments. The letter went on to say OSFM has agreed to “[h]old public meetings and engage with the public at appropriate milestones for a potential restart.”
Similarly, the EDC letter called for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prior to the Fire Marshal’s decision that is compliant with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and an agreement to allow public input on the potential reopening of the pipeline.
To comply with CEQA, the EIR must consider the risks of operating corroded pipelines without proper protection against continued corrosion.
“There are many other permissions that [Sable has] to get and I feel like they are saying that if they get this, then none of those other permissions are necessary,” Ullman said in an interview with the Nexus.
OSFM did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Nexus will continue to report on this topic as more information becomes available.
A version of this article appeared on p. 4 of the Oct. 3, 2024 edition of the Daily Nexus.
