Sable is blatantly ignoring cease and desist orders from the California Coastal Commission and has started pumping oil — on the 10th anniversary of the Plains All American Oil Spill that poisoned Santa Barbara’s coast with 140,000 gallons of crude oil.
Sign our Action Alert to join Surfrider in protecting our coasts from another oil spill and demanding Governor Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta use the powers of their offices to uphold California law and protect our coastal resources.
The day after the Santa Barbara community gathered to mourn the anniversary of a devastating oil spill, Sable announced it is again pumping oil nearby — in violation of California Coastal Commission cease and desist orders.
Over 100 concerned community members, environmental advocates, and surfers gathered at Refugio State Beach, north of Santa Barbara, for a paddle out on May 18th to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Plains All American oil spill. In 2015, the pipeline rupture spilled over 140,000 gallons of crude oil, causing irreparable damage to the sacred Chumash lands and waters in the region, all the way south to Los Angeles County. One day after the memorial paddle out, Sable Offshore Corporation announced it had resumed crude oil production in nearby federal waters — without legal permission or permits to restart the same exact pipeline that spilled 10 years ago.
Refugio State Beach Paddle Out, May 18, 2025. Photo by Ann Shaw
Sable, which owns and operates the offshore rig Platform Harmony, reports it is now extracting about 6,000 barrels a day from six wells. Sable is sending oil to the Las Flores Canyon processing facility for storage. Eventually, Sable wants to restart full operations through the pipeline to send the oil to a refinery in Kern County.
Efforts to stop Sable from ramping up operations have seen mixed success. The California Coastal Commission ordered Sable to “cease and desist” unpermitted construction work multiple times, and recently levied an $18 million fine against Sable. On May 9th, California State Parks granted Sable an exemption from California Environmental Quality Act compliance, giving Sable the green light to conduct the repairs they need to be able to restart operations without conducting a full environmental review. A company like Sable, with a record of ignoring our laws and regulations, must be held to the highest standards — not exempted from them.
Refugio State Beach, May 2015. Photo: EPA
“The timing of Sable’s announcement, ten years to the day of the 2015 spill, was questionable at best, and intentionally cruel at worst,” said Bill Hickman, Surfrider’s Central California Senior Regional Manager. “We call on Governor Newsom and the Attorney General to use the powers of their offices to enforce state laws and protect coastal resources. We also support the multiple lawsuits seeking to force Sable and the federal government to follow the laws meant to prevent environmental harms from offshore oil drilling operations.”
Sign our Action Alert to join Surfrider in protecting our coasts from another oil spill and demanding Governor Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta use the powers of their offices to uphold California law and protect our coastal resources.
Refugio State Beach, May 2015. Photo: Joshua Shelley