It feels like an eternity since the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission rejected Exxon’s plan to restart its three Gaviota Coast offshore platforms and Las Flores Canyon onshore oil processing facility, but it was just two weeks ago. Maybe that's because so much has happened since then that proved we were right.
Let's break it down:
- The Huntington Beach oil disaster, Saturday, October 2, 2021
Three days after the Exxon Trucking vote in Santa Barbara County, we saw the horrifying results of an underwater oil pipeline bursting off of Huntington Beach, California. The pipeline brought oil from platforms Ellen, Elly and Eureka (the E's), installed in the 1970s by Shell Oil. That was roughly the same time as Exxon oil installed Hondo, Harmony and Heritage (the H's) on the Gaviota Coast and its onshore processing and storage complex tucked into Las Flores Canyon.
Shell's Huntington Beach platforms, now owned by Houston-based oil company Beta / Amplify, sent up to 144,000 gallons of oil (that we know of so far) onto California beaches and on and into marine mamals and shore birds, and it may have been leaking for at least a year.
Similarly Exxon's Santa Barbara County platforms and onshore facilities were shut down after Plains All-American pipeline burst in 2015 sending 450,000 gallons of offshore oil into Santa Barbara Channel and beaches for miles killing thousands of marine mammals and birds.
Both Shell's and Exxon's bohemeths were installed in the ocean floor during the heyday of California offshore oil drilling in the late 60s, 70s and 80s. They hit their stride when disco, bad hair and federal offshore leases were commonplace. The industrialization of the ocean we see today began with Ronald Reagan as California Governor and hit its stride through his presidency. But today, these platforms are corroding relics, ticking time bombs long past their life spans. Both sets, the ones off Huntington Beach and Santa Barbara's Gaviota Coast, are considered "assets" for the oil companies, but have shown to be deadly and dangerous to wildlife and the public at large.
- Santa Maria oil tanker truck accident and fire, Oct. 11, 2021.
An oil tanker truck flips over in Santa Maria igniting a fire in nearby eucalyptus trees, which are highly flamable and can send sparks many miles. Exxon's plan to restart Las Flores canyon and its three offshore oil platforms relies on 24,800 tanker trucks traveling round trip yearly on CA 101, from Las Flores Canyon, through a blustery, curvy, steep pass at Gaviota, to Santa Maria and onto Rt. 166 narrow, dangerous two-road through the mountains to Kern County crossing stream and rivers and national monument along the way. Our friends at Center for Biological Diversity showed how many accidents have occured with oil tankers along the proposed route, and a quick Google search shows the alarming frequency of tanker truck fires, explosions and road shut-downs in the US and around the world.
- The Gaviota Coast, Alisal Wildfire, Oct. 11, 2021
Our eyes opened even wider that same day when a raging wildfire supercharged by climate change engulfed the Gaviota coast. It may have been ignited days before by lightning and fueled by dry conditions and high winds. It shut down the region's main evacuation route north, CA 101, for a week generating long backups and accidents on other roads throughout the region.
The sad irony is that this wildfire, in part fueled by Exxon's refusal to publicly-acknowledge climate change, crossed onto the Exxon Las Flores property, the one Exxon sought to open at the planning comission two weeks ago, and is still seeking. A person on Twitter remarked that it was lucky that Las Flores was not up and running when the fire came by. True, but that "luck" was the direct result of the 2015 Refugio oil disaster that devastated water, wildlife and beaches. While video and infrared maps show there was fire within the property, Exxon says none of its infrasture was damaged.
Huntington Beach and Santa Barbara County demonstrate the insatiable apetite for oil companies to to extend offshore oil infrastructure long past their expiration date. These corroding steel time bombs, the underwater pipes and onshore industrial machinery needed to get oil to market have already severely harmed some of the most ecologically-important and soul-inspiring coast on the planet. These companies will continue to try to pry out profits at greater and greater risk until they are denied permits or choose to dismantle. Decommissioning means good, well-paying jobs until the last platforms and on-shore facilties are gone.
Exxon can choose to remove the hardware it installed starting in 1968. As the last two weeks have shown, it's long past time.
- Jonathan Ullman, Chapter Director, Los Padres Chapter of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties
More photos from the past two weeks:
Tanker truck flipped in Santa Maria in day light after the fire in woods it caused was put out. Source: Santa Barbara County Fire Department
Elly and Ellen, two of the three plaforms off Huntington Beach installed by Shell Oil that provided oil to the broken underwater pipe that led to the international attention on Oct. 2. The platforms are owned by Houston-based Beta / Amplify and are in leased Federal waters. Source: US BUREAU OF SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT.
Oil cleanup workers at Huntington Beach, Courtesy of Peter Bennett, https://www.citizenoftheplanet.com/
Smoke from Alisal fire looking out from Goleta. Source: https://twitter.com/ucsboceanrobots/status/1448014174500515841/photo/1