It was stunning news. On the 10th anniversary of the massive Gaviota oil spill, the company that now owns the pipeline that ruptured in 2015 announced the restart of oil production.
A battle about the effort has been going on for years. It's still the focus of lawsuits seeking to block the restart or at least have it undergo a comprehensive environmental review.
News of the restart left project opponents like Linda Krop, with the Environmental Defense Center, stunned.
"It's very ironic, and very sad as we're reflecting on the massive oil spill in 2015 that Sable is so insensitive to the fact that we had the major spill," said Krop. "They're trying to restart the same pipeline that caused the oil spill, and...they're talking about imminently restarting. It's really frustrating."
Sable Offshore Corporation said it's again pumping oil from some of its wells from offshore oil platforms, which had been shut down since the May 19, 2015, accident.
That day, the Plains All American Pipeline ruptured near Refugio State Beach, causing a 140,000-gallon oil spill. It forced the shutdown of three offshore platforms.
Sable bought the operation and has been working to repair the pipeline. The situation turned into a battle, with environmentalists and the State Coastal Commission contending that additional review was needed to ensure there wouldn't be another accident. The company argued that existing permits allowed for repairs to make the pipeline operational. There have been a number of lawsuits over the situation, but Sable continued working on the repairs.
In its statement, the company reports that seven of the eight pipeline segments have already been tested and are ready for use and that testing is underway on the eighth.
Sable declined KCLU News' request for an interview about its announcements, referring us to a press release instead.
Environmental groups consider legal action
Opponents say they are still hoping state agencies will step up to order more environmental reviews and give the people a chance to participate in a public process.
"There are still hopefully some steps Sable has to go through that will involve some kind of public input, which has been lacking to date," said Krop. "That's really what we've been seeking from the beginning."
Krop says legal action is still a possibility. "The Environmental Defense Center has a lawsuit against the State Fire Marshal (who regulates pipeline safety issues). The suit has been filed by the EDC on behalf of five organizations. "We have sued the State Fire Marshal for approving the waiver allowing the pipeline to operate without a corrosion prevention system."
"This is not a hypothetical or speculative concern. We know this pipeline is corroded. We know what happens when it ruptures, and we cannot have another disaster on the coast."Linda Krop, Environmental Defense Center
She added that they're also monitoring the role of California State Parks and the state's Coastal Commission for their roles in the reopening. "Right now, we don't have any lawsuits pending against them...we're hoping they will do the right thing, and have a public process, and do the environmental review that's required."
Sable Offshore Corporation’s news release said it has reactivated six wells on the platform Harmony and is moving oil to its onshore Las Flores facility for storage. The facility can store more than half a million barrels of oil. Sable anticipates oil sales from the onshore facility in July, which means it thinks it will be using the pipeline by then.
The company plans to reactivate the remaining 26 wells on the platform after testing is completed. It said it will bring the 44 wells on Platform Heritage back online in July and the 26 on Platform Hondo back online in August. There are more than 100 wells in total on the three offshore platforms.
Environmentalists have cautioned that reopening the decades-old oil infrastructure could lead to another major spill.
"The platforms and the pipelines definitely have existed beyond their original projected life span, so that is a concern," said Krop. "This is not a hypothetical or speculative concern. We know this pipeline is corroded. We know what happens when it ruptures, and we cannot have another disaster on the coast."
The company said it's added a number of safety measures and is testing the infrastructure before reactivating it.
Again, Sable rejected the opportunity to be interviewed as part of this story.
