The Center for Biological Diversity intends to sue the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to force the agency to update its plan for the Santa Ynez Unit’s offshore oil platforms—the latest in a series of increased efforts to prevent resumed operations.
“The platforms and pipelines have outlived their expected lifespans; and oil production at the SYU (Santa Ynez Unit) has already caused enough damage. It’s high time to decommission this zombie infrastructure,” Center for Biological Diversity Oceans Program Senior Counsel Julie Teel Simmonds told the Sun in an email.
The unit’s offshore platforms, pipelines, and inland processing facilities haven’t operated since the 2015 Refugio oil spill, which dumped 142,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean when the pipe burst. Sable Offshore Corp.—the unit’s new owner after its purchase from ExxonMobil—wants to resume operations by the end of the fourth quarter in the 2024 fiscal year, according to SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) filings.
With projected resumed operations on the horizon, the Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups have ramped up efforts to keep this from happening by reaching out to state, local, and federal regulatory agencies with their concerns for the offshore platforms’ and pipeline’s condition.
In a letter to BOEM, the Center for Biological Diversity states that California’s offshore platforms are required to submit and operate under development and production plans—with the Santa Ynez Unit’s plans originally approved in the 1970s and 1980s. BOEM is required to periodically review plans and make needed updates to improve safety based on changes that impact production.
Teel Simmonds argues that the unit’s conditions and a future jump from zero production activity to full operations should spark a review.
“Allowing the company to [restart] based on plans originally approved in the 1970s and ’80s would be far too big a gamble with our oceans and climate, and a gross neglect of the agency’s legal obligations to ensure offshore drilling doesn’t cause undue harm,” she said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if a meaningful review of drilling plans written decades ago reveals that the platforms need to stay shut down.”
BOEM agreed to review offshore oil production plans in Huntington Beach after the Center for Biological Diversity filed a similar lawsuit in September 2022.
“It’s frustrating we have to keep suing the agency to force it to do its job,” Teel Simmonds said.
BOEM and Sable did not respond for comment before the Sun’s deadline.
The Center for Biological Diversity also recently sent a letter to Cal Fire, the State Lands Commission, and Santa Barbara County with environmental review and transparency concerns as part of its efforts.
“There are many steps Sable has to go through to restart with many agencies involved, but it is unclear how many have been completed to date or have to be completed before restart,” she said.
In August, the local environmental law firm Environmental Defense Center and fellow environmental groups approached the State Lands Commission during a meeting in Goleta to protest restarting operations since the commission oversees the pipeline’s lease agreements and permitting.
In September, the Environmental Defense Center and the Center for Biological Diversity approached the Board of Supervisors with similar transparency concerns after the county settled a lawsuit with Sable without a public hearing—which allows Sable to move forward with installing 16 safety valves.
“We didn’t learn about it until it was a done deal. We are pretty upset about the lack of transparency,” Environmental Defense Center Chief Counsel Linda Krop said in a previous interview. “I’ve never seen the county settle without a public hearing because that’s the only way you hear from anyone else.”
Teel Simmonds said that she wants to see the agencies involved have better coordination and connection when it comes to overseeing Sable’s activities.
“What is clear is that both federal and state agencies are falling down on the job when it comes to transparency, public participation, and environmental review,” she said. “They have a legal obligation to protect our coastal environment, wildlife, and communities from the numerous dangers oil drilling and transportation entails.”