Coastal Well Cleanup Bill Clears Senate
State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson’s Senate Bill 44 — the Coastal Oil Well Clean Up and Remediation Act — passed off the Senate floor last week on a 31-5 bipartisan vote. The bill aims to allocate up to $2 million annually — derived from state mineral leases — toward properly capping leaky coastal oil wells long-abandoned by companies no longer in business. Several of these so-called orphaned wellheads — such as the Becker Well (pictured)— have fouled Summerland shores for years, prompting beach closures in 2015. Jackson’s bill now faces the Assembly.
