Whether you’re for or against oil operations in Santa Barbara County, you’re passionate about that position. But that decades-long debate turned up a notch at a recent Santa Barbara County Planning Commission meeting.
“Coming to the Planning Commission hearings or Board [of Supervisors] hearings is a really important part of our public process,” Planning and Development Director Lisa Plowman said, kicking off a hearing about oil operations. “We want to hear from everybody on all sides, but unfortunately today one of my staff persons was shoved up against a door because somebody was unhappy they couldn’t get into this room.”
That kind of behavior will not be tolerated, Plowman continued, and if people can’t conduct themselves in a respectful, kind manner they will be asked to leave the building.
The crowds, which spilled onto the fourth floor in the Santa Barbara County Engineering Building, gathered to hear or weigh in on the owner, guarantor, and operator transfer of the Santa Ynez Unit’s three offshore platforms, the POPCO Gas Plant, and the Las Flores Pipeline to Sable Offshore Corporation.
“What’s very important to note today is these requests are to transfer the county permits for the individual assets,” Santa Barbara County Energy, Minerals, and Compliance Division Planner Jacquelynn Ybarra told the commissioners. “The permit transfers do not include any authorization for work that may occur at the facilities; it doesn’t include a restart at the facilities nor any future operation of the facilities.”
The Planning Commission voted 3-1—with 3rd District Commissioner John Parke dissenting because he wanted to see Sable’s insurance policies—to approve the owner, guarantor, and operator transfer to Sable.
“We heard a number of comments about the financial strength and solvency of the company, and alleged perils due to a perceived inadequacy after restart … but again what we are dealing with today, the decision does not involve restart, it’s a transfer of permits,” 4th District Commissioner Roy Reed said during the meeting. “Every time an oil project comes on, no matter how narrowly confined, the opposition seeks to expand it and turn it into oil-mageddon when these often need to have a narrow focus.”
Sable entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Exxon to acquire the Santa Ynez Unit, POPCO, and the pipeline in November 2022, and the agreement closed in February, Ybarra said. Santa Barbara County code governs owner and guarantor transfers. As part of the process, county planning staff looked into Sable’s SEC filings, insurance certificates, and reviewed each permits’ list of conditions.
Steve Rusch, Sable vice president of environmental and regulatory affairs, told commissioners that it has $2.5 billion to cover damage at the Santa Ynez Unit and the gas plant and $400 million to cover cleanup and restoration costs if there’s an oil spill.
“We understand that people are concerned about safety, as are we. The Santa Ynez Unit facility and POPCO Gas Plant, there’s a lot going on with refurbishing testing we are doing; we are going to upgrade the protection system,” Rusch said.
Sable is conducting erosion tests on its pipeline every mile and putting new protective systems in place alongside the controversial 27 safety valves that were permitted by the State Fire Marshal. Once operating, Sable plans to add a local control center in Santa Maria.
Because Sable purchased damaged assets, like the pipeline, Exxonmobil remains on the hook if Sable went bankrupt and couldn’t complete any abandonment work, Energy, Minerals, and Compliance Division Deputy Director Errin Briggs added.
However, the county’s environmental community is skeptical. Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Environmental Defense Center, claimed that Sable does not have the ability to respond to an oil spill because it doesn’t have an oil contingency plan for restart, even though the company told its investors “they plan to start pumping by the end of the year.”
“We submitted a Public Records Act request; we found it only affects idle pipelines. They still don’t have an oil spill contingency plan for operations, nor Exxonmobil,” Krop said. “Plains wasn’t able to respond and were found criminally liable. We believe Sable will not be any better.”
Briggs told the commissioners that Sable has gone above state requirements to repair pipeline anomalies, and the contingency plans required for county approval are for its current idle state. A change in the plans will come back at a later time when a restart is on the table.
Fourth District Commissioner Reed said understands the desire to transition away from gas, but it’s still a needed asset in the community.
“We’ve heard about the heartbreak and devastation for the oil spill—the animals, the birds—but we also need to consider the heartbreak and devastation of the families, the contractors of the people supported by offshore operations in this county,” Reed said. “Nothing has really been done for them. I think we really need to address that.”
This article appears in Nov 7-17, 2024.