California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a complaint Friday against Sable Offshore Corp. alleging the company repeatedly broke the law and discharged waste into streams, wetlands, and habitats while making unpermitted repairs to a broken oil pipeline on the Santa Barbara County coastline.
The Texas-based oil company is attempting to restart offshore platforms and other idled equipment in Santa Barbara County—including the same defective pipeline responsible for one of the worst oil spills in California history just 10 years ago, the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill.
The lawsuit accuses Sable of knowingly discharging potentially harmful materials into waters and habitats along the pipeline route, which crosses sensitive ecosystems in the Coastal Zone, runs through the Gaviota State Park and neighborhoods in the City of Buellton, goes under major rivers, and ends about 125 miles away in Kern County…