Sable Offshore Corp charged with environmental violations
Sable Offshore Corp., which has been working to restart the oil pipeline that caused the disastrous 2015 Refugio Oil Spill, has been charged with environmental violations by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office.
The criminal complaint, filed Sept. 16 in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, was announced by District Attorney John Savrnoch Sept. 18.
In a statement, Houston-based Sable, an independent oil and gas company, said the charges are “politically motivated.”
The complaint alleges that Sable committed five felony violations of the California Water Code for knowingly discharging dredged or fill material into U.S. waters.
The complaint also charges Sable with 11 misdemeanor violations of the California Fish and Game Code for allegedly substantially diverting or obstructing, or substantially changing or using material from the bed, bank, or channel of any river, stream, or lake.
Sable is additionally charged with five misdemeanor violations of the Fish and Game Code for allegedly placing excavated materials in or where they could pass into the waters of the state.
In its statement, Sable said it “continues to lawfully work with all state and federal agencies to work towards a successful restart of Lines 324 and 325.”
Line 324 is the pipeline that ruptured on May 19, 2015, spilling more than 2,900 barrels of heavy-crude oil onto private property, Refugio State Beach and into the Pacific Ocean.
At the time, it was called Line 901.
Arraignment in the case is scheduled for Nov. 4.
