California lawmakers are pressing federal regulators to explain their role in the disputed restart of an offshore oil field off the Santa Barbara coast.
Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and more than a dozen of their colleagues sent a letter this week to the Interior Department and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
They questioned why the agency approved permits and publicly celebrated what it described as a restart at the Santa Ynez Unit, a complex of three platforms and an onshore processing plant that has been shut down since a 2015 pipeline rupture spilled more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil along the Gaviota Coast.
“The federal government has a limited role and they made it sound like somehow they were affirming Sable's ability to proceed or restart their operations when indeed they have to get all permits from the state of California,” Carbajal said.
Sable Offshore, the current owner of the unit, announced in May that production had resumed. State regulators and environmental groups dispute that claim, noting the company still needs state approvals to operate its pipeline and faces lawsuits and court orders blocking activity.
The Democratic lawmakers asked federal regulators to clarify their involvement by the end of September, saying accurate oversight is critical to protecting the Central Coast’s environment and economy.
