An oil company’s controversial efforts to repair a Santa Barbara County pipeline face a new legal challenge. The pipeline ruptured in 2015 and caused a major oil spill.
A coalition of environmental groups filed suit Tuesday against the state agency that oversees pipeline operations.
Sable Offshore Corporation is trying to repair the pipeline, which ruptured on the Gaviota Coast in 2015, causing a 140,000-gallon oil spill. It would set the stage for restarting three idle offshore oil platforms.
The State Fire Marshal oversees pipeline safety issues and granted waivers for the restart. But a coalition of environmental groups sued, claiming issues with the approval process and the pipeline’s safety.
"Our first concern is that they didn't do an environmental review, which would allow the public to participate," said Linda Krop, Chief Counsel with the Environmental Defense Center. "Under state and federal pipeline safety laws, they're required to do a public hearing, and they didn't do that. And they're required to issue a statement explaining their rationale for approving the waiver, and they didn't do that. Even if they had done the process right, their decision that this pipeline will be safe from corrosion is just simply not founded."
Last week, the State Coastal Commission issued a new cease-and-desist order against Sable to stop work on the project. The company has done a number of repairs, contending that work is allowed under some long-standing permits.
