The California Coastal Commission voted on April 10 to fine Sable Offshore Corporation a record $18 million for refusing to comply with its orders to stop work on the oil pipelines that caused the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill along the Santa Barbara coast. The commission originally fined Sable Offshore $15 million but increased the fine after the company did not respond to notices of violation and two cease-and-desist orders.
The penalty will be reduced to $14.9 million if Sable complies with the commission’s orders and applies for a coastal development permit. The commission also voted to require Sable to restore the environment around the pipeline and issued a third cease-and-desist order to the company, effective until the pipeline construction is permitted.
The dispute between Sable and the Coast Commission began in September 2024, when Sable began construction to repair parts of the pipelines in its Santa Ynez Unit. The Santa Ynez Unit consists of three offshore platforms located in federal waters, an onshore oil processing plant, and the related pipelines. The unit has been shut down since the pipelines caused the 2015 oil spill, and restarting the pipelines is a critical part of the company’s plan to restart onshore and offshore operations.
The Coastal Commission moved to stop the work in November 2024 by issuing notices of violation and a cease-and-desist order. The commission stated that Sable did not have the necessary coastal development permits and was performing unpermitted construction and excavation.
Sable sued the Coastal Commission in February 2025, after the commission issued a second cease-and-desist order. Sable argued that the Coastal Commission does not have the authority to stop work on the pipeline, as the work falls under the commission’s permits issued to the pipeline’s original owner. Sable maintained that it is performing “repair and maintenance,” not building a new pipeline, and that it has the right to conduct repairs under contracts it acquired from ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil previously acquired the pipelines from Plains All-American Pipeline, which owned the pipeline at the time of the spill in 2015.
The Coastal Commission stated that the company has performed activities that are part of a rebuilding of the pipeline rather than routine maintenance. Sable, according to the commission, has excavated around the pipeline and placed cement bags on the seafloor below the pipelines. Other activities include digging pits, clearing vegetation, and building roads, according to Cal Matters.
Sable stated that the repair and maintenance activities include “anomaly repairs, safety valve installation, and span remediation” and are in compliance with the Santa Barbara County’s Coastal Zoning Ordinance (CZO), certified Local Coastal Program (LCP), and the Coastal Act.
The repair and maintenance work, Sable stated, “was fully authorized by coastal development permits previously approved by the California Coastal Commission and Santa Barbara County.“ The company argued that work “on these existing facilities is substantially identical to work that has taken place here for the past 30 years, without a need for new Coastal Act authorizations.” The Coast Commission staff “continues to exaggerate the project’s impacts, which were de minimis thanks to Sable’s implementation of best management practices,” the company stated.
“No California business should be forced to go through a protracted and arbitrary permitting process when it already has valid permits for the work it performed,” Steve Rusch, Sable’s vice president of environmental and governmental affairs, said.
In arguing that it has approval for the pipeline work from Santa Barbara County, Sable cited a February 12, 2025 letter from the county stating that the work is authorized under the county’s current permits. Santa Barbara County issued the original construction permits in the 1980s. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, however, did not approve of transferring the permit to Sable. The board’s vote was 2-2 with one member abstaining.