With the resurgence of Sable Offshore’s active oil production, members of the surf community will gather Sunday morning during a paddle-out to say “No to Offshore Oil Drilling” and express their opposition to the reactivation of the pipelines and platforms using Las Flores Pipeline to move oil.
The paddle-out, hosted by Surfrider and including environmental groups, students, tribal leaders, and community members, starts at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 17, at Refugio Beach. It commemorates the 11th anniversary of the oil spill of 2015, caused by the rupture of a pipeline operated by then-owner Plains All American. More than 120,000 gallons of crude oil spilled near Refugio State Beach. Hundreds of marine mammals, birds, and other marine organisms were killed, and the noxious waters fouled with crude oil shut down area fisheries.
The Trump administration’s plan to open up the coast to drilling is putting the Santa Barbara Channel at risk, Surfrider charges, and allowing Sable Offshore to continue to operate its pipeline is in violation of state laws and court orders. Sable restarted pumping oil from three offshore platforms, sending it to market through the onshore pipeline that was responsible for the 2015 spill. The activity threatens the value of the coast and channel and the state’s coastal recreation economy, valued at more than $44 billion annually.
The paddle-out begins with breakfast burritos and coffee, short speeches around 9 a.m., and a paddle-out about 100-200 yards offshore forming at 9:30. Any kind of human-powered paddle craft (surfboard, paddleboard, kayak, etc.) is welcome, as is participation on the beach with signs.
Event partners are the Santa Barbara County Chapter and UCSB student club of the Surfrider Foundation, Environmental Defense Center, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Sierra Club, Fearless Grandmothers, UCSB Environmental Affairs Board, Oceana, and Get Oil Out.
Speakers include UCSB students, members of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, and Business leaders from Patagonia.
Participants are encouraged to register online here.
