The California Coastal Commission is accusing the company that owns the Refugio Oil spill pipeline of doing unpermitted construction.
The Coastal Commission first sent a violation letter in September, asking Sable Offshore Corp. to stop all work on the pipeline until it secured the proper coastal permits.
Sable agreed, but last week, the Commission learned construction had not stopped. In a second letter, the Commission warned that it would issue a cease-and-desist order if the unpermitted work didn’t stop right away.
A decade ago, this pipeline spilled over 100,000 gallons of oil that flowed into the ocean.
Alex Helperin, an attorney for the Coastal Commission, said the permit rules are in place to protect the environment.
“We've seen the consequences of a past failure of this pipeline. We need to be able to look at all the resources that could be affected if something were to go wrong here and to make sure that nothing does go wrong,” Helperin said.
Sable Offshore Corp. said in a statement that it has moved crews out of the coastal zone and is complying with the Commission's requests.
The pipeline has been shut down since the 2015 oil spill, but work is underway to reopen it.
If construction continues in the coastal zone, Helperin said the Commission could take more action, including filing a lawsuit to seek penalties.
