The Independent‘s recent article about the recent high levels of tar on beaches from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara accurately attributed the source to offshore “natural seeps,” with the most likely culprit being the seeps near Coal Oil Point (COP), which is effectively an environmental superfund site. It is the world’s largest marine seep, and the gases from the Coal Oil Point seeps are one of the largest contributors to air pollution in Santa Barbara County (according to the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District). Over the course of a few days, Coal Oil Point burps out an equivalent amount of oil into the ocean to the 2015 Refugio oil spill. In other words, these seeps have caused the equivalent of hundreds of Refugio oil spills since 2015.
The article also accurately pointed out that there are no public funds to address pollution from natural seeps. However, there is a very simple solution that has been proven for decades, and that would not cost taxpayers a dime — produce the oil and gas underneath Coal Oil Point. Historical production from the South Elwood field beneath the Coal Oil Point and nearby seeps substantially reduced seepage rates, that is, until production was halted in 2015 due to the pipeline leak. Since then, it appears that seeps are increasing, as evidenced by the increased tar on the beaches, pervasive oil slicks, and anecdotal observations of increased methane and oil bubbling around Coal Oil Point.
The physics is straightforward: producing oil and gas lowers reservoir pressure. Lower pressure reduces the force pushing hydrocarbons upward through faults to the seabed. Moreover, producing hydrocarbons reduces the volumes available to seep from the reservoir. In theory, if you deplete the reservoir of a large fraction of its oil and gas, the seeps will never be a problem again. Conversely, if you leave a lot of oil and gas in the ground, it will leak naturally to the surface, causing pollution and environmental degradation.
California picked its poison. It decided that oil production was more dangerous to the environment than natural seeps, even though all the scientific evidence suggested otherwise. In not safely producing the oil within the South Ellwood field, Santa Barbara residents and the local environment are being subjected to an unabating stream of harmful pollution. Yet, as aforementioned, there is a straightforward solution that upholds human and environmental wellbeing — that is, to deplete the source of the seeps by conscientiously and responsibly producing the hydrocarbons in the South Ellwood oil field.
Someday we will all be driving EVs, and oil won’t be nearly as valuable. However, the seeps will still be there, and if the State of California gets its way, we will never produce the oil beneath them, even though we now have the drilling technology to access the oil from locations onshore without the need for offshore platforms. If the current policies continue, future generations of South Santa Barbara County residents will continue to have dirty air from natural seeps, and tar balls will continue to foul Santa Barbara’s beaches.
Mike Stoker is a former Santa Barbara County supervisor, former Southwest Administrator of the U.S. EPA, and President & CEO of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayer Advocacy Center; James W. Rector and Joseph Silvi are professors at UC-Berkeley; Michael Mische is a professor at USC.
