Sander Kushen, sander.kushen@sierraclub.org
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the Refugio Oil Spill, when more than 120,000 gallons of crude oil spilled onto Santa Barbara beaches and into the ocean, killing marine life, destroying habitat and closing local businesses.
On Sunday, to commemorate the anniversary, more than 100 environmentalists, surfers, students and community members filled the beach and paddled out to the site of the 2015 spill.
“Today marks a decade since the Plains Oil Spill at Refugio State Beach sent over 120,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into the waters of the Santa Barbara Channel, causing unfathomable damage to coastal ecosystems and our local communities,” said Ted Morton, Executive Director of Santa Barbara Channelkeeper. “Channelkeeper was honored to participate in the memorial paddle out as a way to reflect together on the destruction and stand in opposition to the pipeline’s restart to ensure that this does not happen in the future.”
Besides commemorating the spill, Sunday’s “paddle out” also served as a call to action against current efforts to restart the very same pipeline that burst in 2015. Sable Offshore Corp, a Houston-based oil company, has been leading the effort to restart the pipeline, despite outcry from city officials and environmental organizations.
Last month, Sable was fined a record $18 million for defying state orders to stop work on the pipeline. The company continues their work despite regulatory obstacles and widespread public outrage.
“For those of us who lived through the destruction of the 2015 spill, it's heartbreaking to watch Sable defy state orders and recklessly pursue the restart of the Plains Pipeline,” said Maureen Ellenberger, Chair of Sierra Club’s Santa Barbara-Ventura Chapter. “But unlike 2015, we now have a deep bench of environmental and community leaders working together, determined to stop Sable and prevent history from repeating itself. The “paddle out” is a powerful reminder of how far we’ve come.”
“Surfrider Foundation Santa Barbara Chapter was on the scene to witness the devastation of the 2015 Plains All American spill at Refugio first hand while the impacts stretched to Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange County, in addition to the Santa Barbara Channel,” said Bill Hickman, Central California Sr. Regional Manager for Surfrider Foundation. “The 10th anniversary is a reminder that we need to stop offshore oil drilling and their environmental impacts in favor of a clean energy future. It was great to join with community members for an inspiring paddle out and commemorative event.”
Despite the widespread community engagement and incremental successes in stalling the pipeline, the fight against Sable continues. On May 9, the community was outraged to find that California State parks had granted a partial exception to Sable from environmental review for work on the pipeline.
“Thus far, not a single state agency is taking responsibility for environmental review for a pipeline that will move 1-2 million barrels of oil through sensitive coastal areas, adding millions of tons of climate harming pollution to California's air,” said Ilonka Zlatar, an organizer with the Oil and Gas Action Network (OGAN). “State Parks granting an exemption from CEQA for pipeline repairs flies in the face of the state's climate goals and the health of Californians and our natural lands.”
“It’s been ten years since the horrific Refugio Oil Spill that put the surrounding ecosystem and communities at massive risk, but Californians are still living with dangerous fossil fuels infrastructure all around us,” said Nicole Ghio, California Director at Food & Water Watch. “From Sable attempting to re-start drilling operations in the same area to a proposed gas compressor station expansion in Ventura (right across from an elementary school), too many Californians are living with this dangerous, polluting infrastructure in our communities. If the Refugio Oil Spill taught us anything, it’s that we can’t trust Big Oil and Gas. We need to move off fossil fuels – and quickly – for the health of our communities and for future generations.”
“As coastal Peoples who have been here since time immemorial, the Chumash want our waters and lands to be safe and healthy once again,” said Tina Calderon, Ocean Protectors Program Director at Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples. “We acknowledge sxa’min, the salt waters as the oldest of ecosystems and we feel strongly that all life which dwells there should be treated with care and respect. With gratitude we thank all who have done their part to voice the need to stop offshore oil drilling and most recently have rallied to stop Sable from reactivating the corroded oil pipeline that caused so much destruction in 2015 at Refugio State Beach which is called Qasil by the Chumash Nation. We call upon others to stand in unity, post widely and say enough is enough - save our ocean!”
Environmental Defense Center, Sierra Club, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Sacred Places Institute, OGAN, Food & Water Watch, Center for Biological Diversity, Surfrider Foundation and dozens of other groups that participated in the “paddle out” are members of the “Don’t Enable Sable” campaign.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.