Thousands of barrels of oil a day are flowing through pipes across Santa Barbara County, coursing under the Gaviota Coast and streaming beneath Buellton before traveling to Bakersfield for the first time since a destructive 2015 spill at Refugio State Beach.
Local environmentalists and state agencies clamored this week to shut the system down—operations resumed Saturday—after Trump Administration officials issued a Defense Production Act order directing Sable Offshore Corp. to restart delivery from the Santa Barbara Channel.
In one salvo, state authorities who oversee access to public lands threatened to rescind the company’s offshore drill leases. In another, state parks officials demanded Sable remove four miles of pipe from Gaviota State Park.
“Things are happening very rapidly,” said Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center (EDC).
State officials lodge legal response
In an emergency meeting on Monday, the California Lands Commission authorized potential legal action and “any steps necessary” to stop Sable — up to and including termination of the company’s offshore oil drilling leases.
In a unanimous vote, commissioners said the state must protect its sovereignty and constitutional right to make decisions on infrastructure and land use.
“California is faced with an unprecedented situation, where a private oil company, Sable, is claiming that California’s laws, regulations, and courts are preempted,” commission staff said in a report. “California’s environment and the legal obligations of operators who need certainty when engaging in business in California could remain permanently impaired.”
Teeing up another likely showdown, California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday filed an emergency motion requesting a federal court quickly enforce a 2020 federal consent decree that requires Sable to get approval from the California Fire Marshal before the pipeline can restart — a condition that seemingly contradicts the Trump Administration go-ahead Sable has embraced.
Safety concerns reverberate
Saturday marked the first time crude from Santa Ynez Unit oil platforms flowed through the Las Flores Pipeline System since May 2015, when a rupture caused the 142,000-gallon spill at Refugio, sending 21,000 gallons into the Pacific Ocean.
Thousands of birds and marine mammals died, and 138 square miles of fisheries shut down for weeks. The spill resulted in more than $360 million in settlements paid by Plains All American Pipeline, the former owner.
Ever since, environmentalists and local residents have questioned whether the pipeline is fit for service. Sable maintains problem areas were fixed as of May.
Although it would have no immediate effect, environmentalists on Tuesday welcomed a move by Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Donna D. Geck, who temporarily left in place an injunction that barred Sable from restarting the pipeline.
After announcing on Monday that the pipeline was back online, Sable had contended that the injunction stemming from an ongoing lawsuit was no longer necessary. A new hearing on the matter was scheduled for April 17.
At the crux of that lawsuit, brought by the EDC and the Center for Biological Diversity, is pipeline corrosion, and how strict safety reviews should be before oil can flow again.
“Our injunction still exists, and they (Sable) are violating it,” Krop said Tuesday, adding the EDC is exploring how it can directly legally challenge the Trump Administration and the resumption of operations. “This pipeline is still corroded.”
EDC Executive Director Alex Katz described the pipeline as a threat to public safety.
“What we’re seeing is an abuse of power and a corruption of federal law for the benefit of the president’s friends, with potentially disastrous consequences for everyone else,” Katz said. “Our focus should be on transitioning to renewable energy, not on restarting old and dangerous fossil fuel operations.”
New crude comes from Platform Harmony
Sable in recent years has told investors that production could rise from about 30,000 barrels of oil per day to more than 50,000. The company recently told CalMatters it could serve 20% of the state’s market as California recalibrates its energy strategy to shore up fossil fuel infrastructure even as it pushes toward cleaner power.
When the Houston-based company began moving crude Saturday, it did so under the watchful eye of federal safety regulators, the company said in a press release.
With the war in Iran and rising energy prices a backdrop, Trump administration officials have said the oil is needed to strengthen national security and ensure West Coast military installations can maintain readiness.
Fresh crude introduced to the system will originate from Platform Harmony first and other nearby platforms shortly after, Sable said.
“Our wells continue to perform as expected,” the company said Monday. “Production ramp-up is anticipated to proceed with full production resumption at platforms Harmony and Heritage this month… and Platform Hondo in June. The company plans to commence first sales by April 1 2026 at an expected gross oil rate of 50,000 Bbls/d (barrels per day).”
Sable representatives did not return requests for further comment. The company bought the pipeline from ExxonMobil in early 2004.
State Parks demands removal, ends negotiations
At the California Department of Parks and Recreation, officials in recent days demanded immediate removal of the four-mile section of Sable pipeline that runs below the 2,700-acre Gaviota State Park.
Moreover, State Parks officials threatened legal action if Sable didn’t confirm, by noon this past Monday, that it would postpone operations on Gaviota park property until strained and protracted negotiations over the future of a pipeline easement through the park are resolved.
With that deadline come and gone, “We will be taking further action,” State Parks Spokesman Marty Greenstein told the News-Press.
In 1986, Sable’s predecessor received a 30-year pipeline easement. That easement expired in 2016, and for the last 10 years State Parks has issued successive year-long right of entry (ROE) permits giving Sable access to the offline pipeline for general maintenance and monitoring, according to State Parks Chief Counsel Tara E. Lynch.
In a Saturday letter to Sable, Lynch described that access as conditioned on Sable obtaining all necessary permits and complying with all local, federal, and State Parks regulations. Operating under the Defense Production Act order doesn’t qualify, she said.
Easement negotiations between parks officials and Sable have been difficult since 2024, Lynch said, adding that Sable, among other concerns, had not yet fixed a road its workers damaged.
“State Parks has had to continually explain to Sable why Sable needs a land right in order to operate on property it does not own, and that a license or permit to access property is not a land right and does not govern continuing operations,” Lynch said. “State Parks has been clear and consistent on this basic real property principle since the beginning of negotiations.
“State parks is immediately ceasing any easement negotiations.”
The letter came a day after Sable filed a lawsuit against State Parks in federal court to confirm its ability to continue operating on park property and fulfill the Defense Production Act order.
Protest planned
In Santa Barbara, activists planned to protest the Sable pipeline at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Dolphin Fountain at State and Cabrillo streets.
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