Texas-based Sable Offshore Corp. Announce today They resumed the flow of oil through the pipeline that ruptured and caused one of California’s largest oil spills on the Santa Barbara coast in 2015.
The restart occurred just one day after the Trump administration issued a decision to request Under the Defense Production Act, at Sable’s request, the company was directed to “prioritize and allocate pipeline transportation services for hydrocarbons…” and “immediately begin performance under contracts or service orders.”
“I am distressed and saddened that the California coast now faces the risk of another oil disaster from this unsafe pipeline,” said Brady Bradshaw, senior oceans advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “For the sake of the amazing Pacific Ocean and all its wildlife, the community has worked hard to make sure we never see oil flow through this flawed pipeline again. This is a dark day for California, and I urge state officials to continue to stand up to Trump’s bullying. We will keep fighting as hard as we can to protect the Santa Barbara coast and end offshore drilling in the state once and for all.”
At State Parks on Saturday unacceptable Sable applied for an easement to use Gaviota State Park to move pipelines and ordered it to immediately remove the 4-mile portion of the pipeline that runs through the park.
The pipeline has been closed since the massive 2015 spill at Refugio State Beach. After investigation, it was determined that the rupture was the result of gradual external corrosion, which remains a threat to faulty pipelines.
In its attempt to restart the faulty overland pipeline, Sable has faced widespread public opposition and racked up a string of state law violations and criminal charges. To date, Sable has not yet received all necessary approvals to restart from California state agencies, including the Coastal Commission.
The Trump Administration’s “Pipeline Capacity Prioritization and Allocation Order” was issued at Sable’s request. Sable appears to be based on a modern legal code opinion From the Justice Department to assert that the order preempts state and federal law to allow the embattled oil project to restart. Such an outcome would be radical and unprecedented.
“The cynical misuse of the National Security Act to benefit an oil company that has repeatedly violated the law is a shocking development, even from this administration,” Bradshaw said. “The courts should not tolerate this brazen use of power.”
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Wishtoyo Foundation have a comment pending lawsuit against the State Fire Marshal’s Office regarding the restart, along with a similar order lawsuit He requested an exemption from the Environmental Defense Center. These cases challenge the agency’s issuance of exemptions to corrosion-related pipeline safety requirements without any environmental review, public notice, or opportunity for a hearing. In October, the state fire marshal informed Sable that corrosion-related repair work failed to meet standards required for restart.
In July 2025, the groups won a preliminary injunction, which was recent Upheld By the court. They submitted to request In response to Sable’s May 2025 announcement that it had resumed oil production from one of three offshore platforms and was storing that oil in onshore tanks while it sought to restart the failed Las Flores pipeline system.
Several other lawsuits related to the pipeline’s restart are still ongoing. Among other violations, the California Coastal Commission has cited the sablefish for illegally operating in sensitive coastal habitats and has been sued by the California Attorney General and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney for statutory violations associated with illegal discharges into streams and waterways.
In December, the Trump administration moved to seize control of the pipeline system from the State Fire Marshal and issued Sable a special emergency permit allowing restart despite the pipelines’ design flaws. the State of California He challenged these proceedings in court, as he did so Environmental organizations Including the center.
The Santa Ynez unit has been closed since May 2015, when a corroded pipeline ruptured and released what is believed to be about 450,000 gallons of oil into Revigio State Beach. The oil spill destroyed 150 miles of California’s coast, killed hundreds of birds and marine mammals, and closed beaches and fisheries.
Sable bought the unit in 2024 from ExxonMobil and has been aggressively seeking to revive the faulty pipeline system and restart oil operations since then.
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