A Texas oil company that is trying to restart oil production off the coast of Santa Barbara County now faces criminal charges that it knowingly violated environmental laws along the coast.
Sable Offshore Corp. was charged with five felony violations of the California Water Code for allegedly discharging dredged or fill material into creeks and wetlands that are considered “waters of the United States,” according to a complaint filed by the Santa Barbara County district attorney’s office.
The Houston-based company also was charged with 16 misdemeanor violations of the state Fish and Game Code for allegedly putting excavated material into protected waterways and other offenses. Prosecutors say the violations occurred as the company was excavating and making repairs to a pipeline that runs from the coast to Kern County.
The charges by Santa Barbara County Dist. Atty. John Savrnoch, announced Thursday, add to legal complications for Sable as it attempts to restart the offshore operations at three oil platforms it now owns.
Defying opposition from the California Coastal Commission, the company has begun repairing and upgrading a network of oil pipelines, including one that was corroded and ruptured in 2015, causing a major crude oil spill near Refugio State Beach.
Sable denied the prosecutors’ allegations, calling them “politically motivated” and “extremely misleading.”
“We are fully cooperating and compliant with the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife requirements,” the company said in a written statement.
Sable said it “continues to lawfully work with all state and federal agencies” toward restarting pipeline operations, including efforts “to align interpretations in the handling of backfill soil during the repair and maintenance process.”
Sable has been attempting to reactivate the so-called Santa Ynez Unit — a complex of three offshore platforms, processing facilities and pipelines — that was shuttered after the 2015 spill, when an estimated 140,000 gallons of crude oil ended up fouling waters along the coast, requiring a costly cleanup. The operation was owned by another company at the time.
Sable bought the oil platforms from ExxonMobil in 2024 and took over operation of the pipelines.
Prosecutors allege the company discharged excavated material into waterways in different watersheds, including Nojoqui Creek, Arroyo Quemado and Asphaltum Creek.
The legal fight over the company’s plans comes as the Trump administration seeks to encourage oil and gas production on federal lands as well as offshore.
California lawmakers have responded with new legislation that aims to make offshore oil production more difficult by tightening the safety and regulatory requirements for pipelines.
The group Environmental Defense Center, which is fighting the company’s plans to restart oil and gas operations, said Sable has openly ignored state regulators and that the charges raise serious concerns.
“It should be abundantly clear at this point that this is not a company that we can trust to operate safely, responsibly, or even legally,” said Alex Katz, executive director of the Santa Barbara-based group. “This is a really big deal for any company to be charged with 21 crimes, including 5 felonies, especially for a company asking to operate an extremely high risk project.”
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