Sable Offshore and the Trump administration marked the 11th anniversary of Refugio Oil Spill by having a legal challenge to Sable’s ongoing oil operation removed from the Santa Barbara courtroom of Judge Donna Geck and transferred to a federal courtroom in northern California.
The move is significant for reasons other than the anniversary. But for the change of venue — and jurisdiction — Geck would have heard arguments on long-simmering efforts by the Environmental Defense Center to secure a restraining order to stop Sable Offshore from producing oil and sending it through its pipeline until the company secured the necessary state permits.
Sable has long disputed that it ever required state permits and that since the federal government asserted late last year it has the last word when it came to Sable, the issue is moot. The Justice Department and Sable had sought the change of jurisdiction one month after Judge Geck had rejected Sable’s argument that Sable had been excused from securing the necessary state permits when the Justice Department had asserted Sable’s production was necessary for national security reasons.
Attorneys with the Environmental Defense Center, which represents a coalition of county environmental organizations, quickly filed legal papers, demanding that jurisdiction and venue be returned to Judge Geck. A state court, they argued, is the proper place to hash out arguments about state permits.
One year ago, on the anniversary of the spill, Sable sent out press releases announcing it had resumed production at a plant shut down 10 years because of a major oil spill from badly corroded pipeline. In fact, the company had resumed production for testing purposes only. The company resumed commercial production this March shortly before Trump initiated his war against Iran, thus triggering a worldwide oil shortage and the very real prospect of endlessly escalating gas prices.
