State Fire Marshal Approves Sable Pipeline Safety Plan
On December 17, 2024, the California Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) granted waivers of federal anti-corrosion requirements for Sable Offshore Corp.’s 124-mile long Las Flores Pipeline System. Prior to granting the waivers, the OSFM approved the company’s “enhanced pipeline integrity standards” for the pipeline.
A federal court-ordered consent decree required these waivers as a condition for restarting the pipeline that ruptured and spilled 142,000 gallons of oil into the ocean near Refugio State Beach in 2015. (U.C. Santa Barbara researchers estimate the spill at more than 450,000 gallons.) Sable stated in a company report that it expects to restart production from the Santa Ynez Unit offshore platforms and the Las Flores Canyon processing facilities in the first quarter of 2025.
Federal regulations require pipelines to cathodic protections to control corrosion. Ineffective cathodic protection caused the 2015 oil spill. The original approval of the pipeline in the 1980s mandated the cathodic protection system, according to the Santa Barbara Independent. A cathodic protection system is required to protect pipelines that are heated and insulated from corrosion. The Sable pipeline is both heated and insulated, requiring a waiver to forego installing the system.
“Restarting these decades-old defective pipelines is a recipe for disaster,” said Julie Teel Simmonds of the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement. “Shame on California’s fire marshal for waiving important federal safety rules and doing it all behind closed doors without any environmental review.”
The OSFM has stated that it is now held to stricter standards than required, according to Courthouse News. “The state waiver does not abandon the requirement for cathodic protection; it acknowledges that the methods for cathodic protection in place are not adequate to prevent leaks and spills on insulated lines such as CA-324 & CA-325,” an OSFM official stated, according to Courthouse News. Sable must use “alternate measures to meet or exceed” state and federal safety requirements. “There are 63 conditions listed in the State Waiver that ensure Sable will exceed minimum protections. These conditions include additional reporting requirements for leak detection and more stringent integrity testing,” the OSFM stated, according to the Independent.
“We appreciate the state Fire Marshal’s approval, recognizing our robust safety measures, which go above and beyond state and federal requirements, including the federal court’s Consent Decree,” Sable Vice President of Environmental and Governmental Affairs Steve Rusch said in a statement. “By the time of restart, this pipeline will meet more stringent safety requirements than any other pipeline in the state.”
The OSFM still has two more decisions on pipeline and plant safety, and Sable must still receive additional approvals from other state and federal agencies before it can restart the pipeline. These include the California Coastal Commission, the State Lands Commission, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Division of Oil Spill Prevention and Response, and the California Geologic Energy Management Division.