For the first time in more than a decade, offshore oil is again flowing through a controversial network of pipelines that run from California\u2019s Central Coast to Kern County. <\/p>\n
Following an executive order from President Trump<\/a> last week, Sable Offshore Corp. announced Monday<\/a> that it resumed oil flow through pipelines that run across Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern counties. The infrastructure is part of an offshore oil operation that the Houston-based company has been trying to restart for more than a year. <\/p>\n The resumption of oil transport through the pipelines marks the latest escalation in a long-running battle between<\/a> between California officials and the Trump administration over energy policy and safeguards. <\/p>\n The oil network had been closed since 2015, when a corroded pipe burst and caused one of the state\u2019s worst oil spills. The so-called Santa Ynez unit was under different ownership at the time.<\/p>\n Sable had struggled to secure necessary approvals and permits from California regulators to restart the offshore oil operation. In the process, Sable has been accused of repeatedly ignoring the directives of state and local officials<\/a>, as well as criminal acts<\/a> related to California environmental and coastal laws. <\/p>\n On Friday, Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright invoked the the Cold War-era Defense Production Act and ordered Sable to restore operations at the Santa Ynez Unit, arguing that the nation\u2019s energy needs supersede state and local regulations. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a move that California officials have derided and already started to fight. <\/p>\n On Saturday, California\u2019s Department of Parks and Recreation demanded that Sable<\/a> \u201cimmediately remove the pipeline\u201d from where it runs through Gaviota State Park, formally denying the company\u2019s application to operate the line through that protected area. <\/p>\n The agency said it ceased its review of Sable\u2019s project \u201cdue to Sable\u2019s excessive drain on state resources and incompatibility of their project with the park unit.\u201d The letter said the agency will \u201cpursue legal action to defend the state\u2019s property\u2019s rights\u201d if Sable didn\u2019t respond with plans to imminently close down. <\/p>\n Given Sable\u2019s announcement Monday morning that it had restarted operating the pipelines, a spokesperson for State Parks said the agency will \u201cbe taking further action\u201d but declined to detail those plans. <\/p>\n The California State Lands Commission, which had been overseeing inspections of Sable\u2019s offshore pipelines, called an emergency meeting<\/a> Monday night to consider additional litigation addressing a possible violation of the federal consent decree that delegated oversight of the pipelines to certain state agencies. <\/p>\n Sable acknowledged the letter from California State Parks in its announcement Monday, but noted that it had filed a new lawsuit against the agency the day before. The suit, filed in federal court, seeks confirmation that Sable has the right to operate through the park under Trump\u2019s executive order. <\/p>\n Sable remains tied up in several lawsuits with California officials and environmental groups over the pipelines, but this would be the first to test the authority of the Defense Production Act to override California laws, regulations and the federal consent decree. <\/p>\n