Three oil rigs. Five felony counts. More than a dozen misdemeanor violations.
The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office joined the list of agencies Sable Offshore is under fire from in courtroom settings after filing criminal charges against the Texas-based oil company on Sept. 18.
Each of the 21 separate criminal counts are centered on Sable’s work to restart the Las Flores pipeline system near Gaviota and a trio of offshore oil platforms connected to it—known collectively as the Santa Ynez Unit. In 2015, one of the unit’s lines ruptured and caused the Refugio oil spill. The unit hasn’t been operated since.
“As this matter involves pending litigation, we are unable to provide further comment while the investigation remains ongoing,” Amber Frost, communications specialist at the county District Attorney’s Office, told the Sun via email.
Of the alleged crimes described in court documents, the five felony violations accuse Sable of “knowingly discharging dredged or fill material into waters of the United States.”
The DA’s Office specifically charged Sable with dispensing excavated pollutants into Asphaltum Creek, Nojoqui Creek, and Arroyo Quemado during the fall of 2024.
“The allegations from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office are inflammatory and extremely misleading,” Sable stated in an email to the Sun. “All of the repairs and excavations were supervised by a certified independent biologist and cultural resource professional and Office of State Fire Marshal personnel.”
While the felony charges outlined in the complaint are water code violations, the misdemeanors are fish and game code violations. Some are for not following certain California Department of Fish and Wildlife noticing protocols, while others accuse Sable of depositing materials that are harmful to fish, plants, mammals, and birds into areas that “can pass into waters of the state.”
“No wildlife were adversely affected,” Sable Offshore asserted in its statement to the Sun. “All of these previously disturbed areas have been or are being remediated in accordance with state and local erosion control mitigation measures.”
Sable described the county District Attorney’s actions as “a politically motivated attack.”
The arraignment will be held on Nov. 4 in the city of Santa Barbara. Senior Deputy District Attorney Morgan Lucas is spearheading the case.
Multiple nonprofits, including the Environmental Defense Center and the Center for Biological Diversity, are in the middle of active civil lawsuits against Sable—which was fined $18 million by the California Coastal Commission in April for Coastal Act violations. Like the recent criminal charges, these cases pinpoint waste Sable allegedly discharged into state and federal waters.
Among the alleged 16 misdemeanor violations, 11 accuse Sable of “substantially” altering the soil from the three creeks tied to the felony counts. According to Sable, the other five misdemeanors—focused on excavated pollutants—misinterpret the company’s “handling of backfill soil.”
“Concerning our legal and established pipeline’s right of way and the work conducted within previously disturbed soil, we have been and continue to work with the appropriate agencies,” Sable stated, “to align interpretations in the handling of backfill soil during the repair and maintenance process, … towards a successful restart of [the Las Flores pipeline].”
This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 2, 2025.
This seems oddly familiar(36 felonies anyone?). More like a witch hunt than a search for actual crimes. Santa Barbara and California don’t care about the rule of law, or the environment, they just want to posture and virtue signal for their radical left wing anti oil constituents. Before the smooth brained cultists respond, no… I’m not a right wing MAGA enthusiast. I don’t like government getting involved regardless of party affiliation.