Local environmental and climate groups have been battling all year long with Sable Offshore and their reckless approach to restarting a corroded pipeline that spilled oil over local beaches in 2015.
In a dramatic day at the Santa Barbara County Supervisors meeting last Tuesday, 4 out 5 Supervisors voted against transferring permits from ExxonMobil to Sable, deeming the company an irresponsible operator, based on Sable’s scoff-law behavior.
From Noozhawk: “Nine months after the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors split on the decision to transfer a series of permits to Sable Offshore Corp., the board on Tuesday overwhelmingly decided against the company, denying the transfer in a 4-1 vote.”
From KEYT: “Supervisor Steve Lavagnino previously voted in favor of Sable, but changed his mind.“There is something wrong with the strategy of Sable’s leadership. Trying to simply bulldoze through the permitting process has not been help, and is not how we expect businesses in SB county to conduct themselves,” said Supervisor Lavagnino.”
On the same morning as the Supervisors meeting, according to the SB Independent, Sable was in court in Santa Barbara. “Santa Barbara’s district attorney has filed 21 criminal charges against Sable for violating environmental laws designed to protect creeks and streams in the coastal zone from being contaminated. Five of those charges were felonies. The other 16 were misdemeanors.”