Judge’s ruling complicates Texas oil company Sable Offshore’s path to restarting oil production off the Gaviota Coast
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—Friday morning, Santa Barbara County Judge Donna Geck issued a preliminary injunction against the State Fire Marshal, which has authority over the oil pipelines that Sable Offshore is trying to restart.
Despite the ruling, Sable still has a path to restarting the pipeline that ruptured in the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill.
At the end of last year, the Office of the State Fire Marshal issued a waiver allowing Sable Offshore to operate the Las Flores pipeline without full cathodic protection, as long as they made safety upgrades and repairs.
Friday, the court found that the State Fire Marshal likely violated state law by failing to properly provide reasons justifying the granting of a waiver.
There also was no public input process— which Environmental Defense Center Attorney Jeremy Frankel says is a huge failure.
“This pipeline in particular, it's 120 miles long. It impacts a whole host of people for a variety of reasons, including people whose homes are actually in situated above the pipeline route. And that's a suburban neighborhood in Buellton. None of those people have got a chance to voice their concerns to the fire marshal or really understand what this decision is or how it might affect them,” said Frankel.
But Friday’s injunction doesn't stop sable from moving forward with its plans.
The court ruled Sable may restart the pipeline 10 days after giving notice of receiving all necessary approvals and permits.
That 10-day period gives environmental groups another chance to challenge the restart of the pipeline.
“This is a big win for us. One of the things that the court found in its order was that we're likely to prevail on at least one of our claims,” said Frankel.
Environmental Defense Center Attorney Linda Krop says there’s still more work to be done.
“So far out of all the agencies involved, none of them have conducted environmental review. None of them have held a public hearing,” said Krop.
Krop says her team is urging the State Parks Department to conduct an environmental review for the easement through Gaviota State Park.
Sable Vice President Steve Rusch issued a statement reading in part, “Sable is dedicated to restarting project operations in a safe and efficient manner, and we are pleased to see today's court decision will not impede our preparations."
Rusch also says sable is in full compliance with the federal consent decree outlining steps to restarting oil production.
Sable told investors prior to the ruling that it planned to sell oil by August 1st.
We've asked Sable if today's ruling impacts that timeline and a spokesperson says they had nothing additional to share.
