Isla Vista board adopts resolution opposing restart of pipeline that ruptured in 2015

The Isla Vista Community Services District Board of Directors on Feb. 25 adopted Resolution 25-5 opposing the restart of the oil pipeline that ruptured near Refugio in 2015 and urging agencies and elected officials to oppose restarting the line or associated offshore production.

The resolution, introduced by Director Hobart and moved by Director Toplitz with a second from Director Cebos, passed after brief public comment. A member of the public, identified as Mark, urged the board to link any advocacy to local beach access in the district’s jurisdiction before the vote. The board recorded the motion as passed; a roll-call vote tally was not specified in the meeting record.

The resolution cites the 2015 Refugio spill, which “dumped over a hundred thousand gallons of oil into the ocean,” and states that restarting the pipeline would threaten coastal waters, public health and local recreation. Director Hobart gave a technical history of the line and the spill, saying the pipeline company at the time had found “10 miles of the pipeline was 85% corroded.” Hobart also described ownership changes culminating in Sable Offshore Corporation acquiring the pipeline and obtaining local planning approval to restart operations.

Board members and staff raised engineering and regulatory concerns discussed in the meeting record: the relief that cathodic protection and certain insulation systems cannot be used together, county and state regulatory interactions, and the board’s view that monitoring alone may not detect all forms of corrosion. Hobart and other presenters noted the California Coastal Commission has issued cease-and-desist orders related to pipeline work and that the county’s Environmental Affairs body (EDC) filed an appeal against the local planning approval; the county Board of Supervisors, the board was told, recently deadlocked on moving a permit from Exxon to Sable.

Director Freeman, speaking in support of the resolution, framed the measure as a local environmental and community-protection action: “at heart, this is a really simple issue for our community,” Freeman said, describing the lasting harm to beaches, wildlife and local recreation from the 2015 spill and the district’s role representing residents who would be affected by further spills or increased greenhouse-gas emissions.

The resolution asks the county board of supervisors to continue opposing transporting oil by pipeline or truck in the region, opposes any effort by Sable to circumvent land-use and permitting processes, and urges all local, state and federal agencies with permitting authority to oppose the restart. The board said it will forward copies of the adopted resolution to state and local representatives.

No additional formal actions were reported on the pipeline item at the meeting. The board read the full text of the resolution into the minutes and will distribute the adopted resolution to relevant officials.