Santa Barbara County Planning Commission approves leases needed to restart oil production

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Wednesday afternoon, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission voted three to one to approve lease transfers necessary to restart oil production along the Gaviota Coast.

Environmental advocates rallied in front of Wednesday's hearing voicing their opposition of the proposal.

The permit transfer from ExxonMobil to Sable Offshore is a key step for the Houston-based company to restart oil extraction from three offshore platforms, transportation through associated pipelines, and a refinement facility that have all been dormant since the 2015 Refugio oil spill.

The image below, courtesy of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, shows the entire system of shuttered production facilities in question referred to collectively as the Santa Ynez Unit.

In February, ExxonMobil dropped its lawsuit against Santa Barbara County's denial of the company's plan to truck oil from offshore platforms when it completed the sale of the offshore platforms, the Las Flores Canyon production facility, and affiliated pipelines to Sable Offshore.

Environmental groups outside of Wednesday's hearing argue that Sable's plan poses significant risks.

Jeremy Frankel, Staff Attorney at the Environmental Defense Center, expressed concerns over the company's stability, stating, "We’re asking the county to recognize that this is not a financially stable company…not a responsible company."

“The Planning Commission relied on plans and financial guarantees that just don't exist. So it's putting our entire community at risk again, we went through this nine years ago and we're going to go through it again,” said Environmental Defense Center Chief Council Linda Krop.

Sable representatives, however, assert that the pipeline has been or will be prepared to "as new" standards before a hydrostatic test of the entire system before production and that reviving production will bring economic benefits, including jobs for Santa Barbara County residents and a reduction of carbon emissions by replacing about one million barrels per month of crude oil imports.

"We appreciate the [Santa Barbara County Planning] Commission’s vote today and look forward to continued collaboration with local, state and federal agencies," said Sable Offshore Vice President of Environmental and Governmental Affairs Steve Rusch. "The Sable team has decades of experience and an excellent record of safely managing oil and gas operations. We’re committed to maintaining safety protocols that exceed government requirements and industry standards."

Rusch added, "We've got a project that's worth $10 billion dollars and the amount of revenue that's going to come in from that, we want to get that going as soon as possible. So we're in the process of upgrading all our facilities and the pipeline. We're repairing the pipeline."

Yet, opponents believe Sable is rushing the process, noting that the Coastal Commission recently halted unauthorized repair work the company attempted in protected coastal zones.

“Sable might be saying it's a boost to the economy, but it's really a boom and bust. And so that's what happens with the oil industry, is that they extract a lot of resources for themselves, and then they go out of business when they have a major oil spill or their infrastructure stops working,” said Center for Biological Diversity Senior Oceans Campaigner Brady Bradshaw.

In a September letter, local state legislators and environmental groups asked the Office of State Fire Marshal to conduct an environmental review before granting a state waiver to Sable Offshore.

Your News Channel reached out to the Office of State Fire Marshall ahead of Wednesday's decision and the statewide agency stated that a final date and agenda for a community engagement meeting concerning their regulatory authority over restarting local production are, "still being determined".

In addition to the Office of State Fire Marshal, the California State Lands Commission also has a role to play in transferring existing leases still held by ExxonMobil to Sable Offshore and verifying insurance and bonding requirements are met.

When asked on Tuesday about the status of those lease transfers, the State Lands Commission stated, "The [State Lands] Commission has not acted on ExxonMobil's lease assignment applications. Nor has it set a date to act on them."

"It doesn't make sense to rush a restart or to rush processes and to rush work," detailed Brady Bradshaw, Senior Oceans Campaigner. "It's it's a dangerous pipeline. It already spilled. And we really need state agencies to be deeply involved and deeply engaged. And we actually want the public to be able to be engaged as well."

Voters will have 10 days to appeal this decision.

Follow Your News Channel's continuing coverage for the latest updates and information.