Anonymous
By the County of Santa Barbara
The Santa Barbara County Planning & Development and General Services Departments facilitated the successful decommissioning of the “Line 96” crude oil pipeline formerly operated by Venoco, Inc. The County contracted with Beacon West Consulting who performed the work in cooperation with several other local vendors.
The 6-inch diameter pipeline was approximately nine miles in length and extended from the Ellwood Onshore Facility near the Bacara hotel to a tie-in point at the Plains All American Pipeline (PAAPL) near Las Flores Canyon on the Gaviota Coast. The line was preserved in an idle status in September 2017 following the Plains Pipeline rupture in May 2015. At that time, oil was flushed out of the pipeline using water and until July 2023, remained full of approximately 1,685 barrels of water with diluted corrosion inhibitor and biocide.
In 2017, following the bankruptcy of Venoco, Inc., the County voluntarily assumed responsibility to oversee decommissioning of the pipeline. The California Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) sent a letter to the County in May 2021, asking that the County formally abandon the pipeline to State standards. The County maintained that it was not the owner or operator of the pipeline, but in the public interest agreed to perform the work. In cooperation with state representatives, the County obtained a $550,000 grant from the California Department of Toxic Substances to fund the abandonment work.
After much preparation, the decommissioning effort was completed between July 10th and 31st, 2023. The County and contractors successfully completed this project with no accidents or incidents and in compliance with applicable State requirements.
Good riddance!
I assume this 9 mile pipeline was flushed out then plugged both end, and left in the ground? Seems removing it would cause more eco damage than leaving in place?
I googled this: How do you decommission or abandon a pipeline?
Pipeline abandonment is another term used to describe a decommissioning procedure. For a pipeline to be accurately designated as abandoned, activities eliminating all the combustible fluids it conducted during its service life must be carried out. Pipeline abandonment is when a pipeline is permanently taken out of service and the delivery of a product to an end user is discontinued. Operation ceases and the pipeline is shut down. The pipeline may then either be removed from the ground or it may be left in the ground (known as abandoned in place).
A private oil company got the benefit of this oil pipeline for years. But when it came to cleanup, the taxpayers had to pay $550,000 to clean it up. This is wrong! Veneco should have put up an adequate bond to cover decommissioning when the pipeline was built.
It’s a tale as old as the oil industry. Drill baby drill until the well runs dry, then companies are suddenly too broke to clean up their mess. Look at the island off the Ventura freeway, look at Summerland beach. The true cost of fossil fuels isn’t factored into the price and oil companies are the true fat and lazy welfare queens.
$550,000 seems like a lot to pay if it was only flushed and capped. But then, it was a government project…