The Governor signed into law a bill by a Santa Barbara legislator to come up with a price tag for the taxpayers end of shutting down the state’s oil and gas infrastructure. SB 551 directs California’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources to develop a plan for assessing the cost of the shutdown and cleanup of facilities in state regulated areas.
The legislation was authored by Democratic State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara. Oil and gas companies are expected to bear most of the costs.
But, Jackson says there are instances like Platform Holly, where a company’s bankruptcy has stuck the state with the cost of removing the oil drilling rig off the coast of Goleta.
