A Santa Barbara County judge declined Wednesday to immediately lift the injunction blocking Sable Offshore Corp. from restarting its onshore oil pipelines, approved a compromise schedule that modestly accelerates the case, and compelled the company to confirm in court that no oil is currently flowing through the lines.
At issue is whether Sable must continue complying with a July injunction Judge Donna Geck issued requiring the company to provide 10 days’ advance notice before restarting the pipeline operations, an order that was premised on oversight by California’s Office of the State Fire Marshal.
Sable now argues that oversight has shifted exclusively to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMS), rendering the injunction moot.
“The court does not have jurisdiction,” Sable attorney Jeffery Dintzer of Los Angeles–based Alston & Bird told the judge, arguing that Las Flores pipeline system qualifies as an interstate pipeline under federal law. PHMSA, he said, has issued waivers that effectively displace the state fire marshal’s authority…