After more than a decade, oil is once again flowing through an oil pipeline that ruptured in Santa Barbara County, causing a major environmental disaster.
Sable Offshore Corporation reports that on Saturday, it reactivated its Santa Ynez Pipeline System. In 2015, the pipeline ruptured, causing a 140,000-gallon oil spill on the Gaviota Coast.
Environmental groups have been battling restart efforts for years, contending that even with repairs and upgrades, restarting the decades-old facilities would set the stage for another disaster. But the Trump Administration intervened, using a 1950s-era law that allows the federal government to bypass local and state regulations on projects it deems essential.
"We are looking at all recourses we have here, and we will be fighting this," said Alex Katz, Executive Director of Santa Barbara’s Environmental Defense Center. "We will be standing up to this, along with our partners and our clients. It sounds like from what we've heard from the governor's office, the state will also be standing up to this."
After the pipeline ruptured in 2015, there were initially proposals to replace it with a new system. But the original owner, as well as a second, gave up on the project, with Sable buying the pipeline. Sable’s goal was to repair and reactivate it, which would mean a less expensive and potentially much faster resumption of operations. The pipeline system is essential to moving oil from three oil platforms off the Santa Barbara County coast. They were idled for more than a decade due to the spill and its aftermath.
But Sable ran into heavy opposition to get county and state approvals needed for the restart efforts. After the state efforts stalled, the company turned to the federal government. A federal agency quickly said yes, but new legal challenges from opponents surfaced.
The Trump Administration then invoked a 1950’s law known as the Defense Production Act, which allows the government to cut through regulations to get essential material produced in times of national crisis.
Opponents say they are disappointed, but not surprised by the Trump Administration’s action.
"For Sable, I think this may have been their only recourse at this point, to get it started immediately, to have the president issue this very extraordinary and maybe unprecedented order," said Katz. "It's saying the company is exempt from all state laws, and it basically has no guardrails on what it can do to restart production."
Katz added that the use of the little-known law, known as the Defense Production Act, is an effort to skirt state regulations.
'This is coming at the same time that Sable has been bogged down with its efforts here, in the state of California," said Katz. "There's a court injunction preventing Sable from restarting that is still in effect, there are state laws and permits and approvals that it hasn't secured, or in some cases hasn't even applied for. There's also a federal consent decree the federal government is party to, which gives this authority (the ability to regulate pipeline safety) to the state fire marshal."
The Defense Production Act became law in 1950 in response to the Korean War. It allows the President to designate critical and strategic materials during a time of national crisis. The president can use the act to step in and take emergency action to make the materials available to the country. Multiple presidents have used the law over the decades. Trump invoked it during the pandemic to increase production of ventilators and other gear to help battle the impacts of COVID-19. In 2021, President Biden used the law to help deal with a major shortage of fire hoses during California’s wildfires.
But opponents like Katz argue that the Trump Administration failed to document a national crisis that justifies the use of the law.
"This does seem very different from other uses of the Defense Production Act. We're looking at this, and we will be challenging it," said Katz. The difference here is this order doesn't make findings like it's supposed to about why this is an emergency. It's not an emergency. There is nothing in the order that explains why this is an emergency."
Sable didn’t respond to KCLU’s request for an interview about the situation. It issues a written statement about its restart efforts.
In the statement, the company reported it was resuming operations as a result of an order by the U.S. Secretary of Energy, because the Trump Administration invoked the Defense Production Act. Sable officials said they had completed all repairs and system upgrades, and tested the pipeline to meet all safety requirements as of May of last year.
The company has long contended that the repairs and system upgrades go well beyond what's legally required. But opponents have questioned some aspects of the pipeline repair project.
Sable officials also said they sued the California Parks Department because the state agency hasn’t approved permits for the company to move oil through segments of the pipeline on state parkland.
There are multiple legal challenges involving the company, environmental groups, and state agencies that are still unresolved.
But, as of now, the oil is flowing.
Sable officials said they expect to be selling 50,000 barrels of oil a day by April 1 and will have the three idled offshore oil platforms fully operational again in June.
