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T U E SDAY, J U N E 6 , 2 023
Oil piers removed
Court order stands against offshore fracking
Officials mark milestone at Haskell’s Beach in Goleta
U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal in California case By ANNIKA BAHNSEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
DAVE MASON / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
“If you want to think of one word when it comes to Santa Barbara County, it’s environmentalism,” Supervisor Lois Capps said during a ceremony Monday morning marking the removal of oil piers at Haskell’s Beach. Listening to her, from left, are former State Sen. HannahBeth Jackson, Goleta City Councilmember James Kyriaco and Get Oil Out! representative Carla Frisk.
By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
As the surf gently landed on Haskell’s Beach on a cloudy Monday morning, Sen. Monique Limón was thrilled about what no longer stood behind her. She didn’t have to see them. Or smell them. The two Goleta oil piers — California’s last two oil production shorezone piers — were gone. The piers were removed during the Piers 421 Pier and Caisson Decommissioning Project. “Being on Chumash land today, stepping foot here and looking to this side and seeing no ugly, dirty, smelling piers is incredible because it took so long and so many people” to remove the piers, Sen. Limón, DSanta Barbara, told a gathering of elected officials, media and visitors. The senator’s audience included Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who chairs the California State Lands Commission and spoke during the ceremony marking the removal of piers. The commission collaborated with the city of Goleta to remove the piers, a decommissioning project that marks the end of oil production, which took place from the late 1920s to the 1990s in the Ellwood Oil Field.
SB City Council members stress need for services and interim housing for homeless Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte expresses her joy over the removal of the oil piers.
The removal work started in August and was completed in February. It involved the removal of 4,258 tons of soil; 1,110 tons of concrete;320 tons of steel and 131 tons of wood, according to figures from the California State Lands Commission. At Monday’s gathering, Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte echoed Sen. Limón’s sentiments and used several adjectives to describe her joy about the piers’ removal. “Today, I’m beyond thrilled, and I’m sure my colleagues would agree with that about
what we’re celebrating,” Mayor Perotte told the audience. “In fact, I’m exhilarated. I’m ecstatic. I’m enraptured. I’m elated. And on and on and on. I have a lot of words to say how I’m feeling today.” “Today’s celebration marks a significant accomplishment for the safety of our community and ocean environment,” she said. “Haskell’s Beach today looks more like Haskell’s Beach in 1923 than 2023. “The antiquated wells and piers are forever gone and no
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longer pose an oil spill threat to our ocean, beaches, flora and fauna,” Mayor Perotte said. “The state lands commission’s partnership with the city of Goleta has been key to this restoration effort, and we appreciate the commitment, cooperation and the collaboration of all the folks,” she said. But Mayor Perotte noted the work in removing legacy oil infrastructure from Goleta isn’t finished. “We look forward to continuing Please see OIL PIERS on A4
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series on homelessness in Santa Barbara. The series will continue in Wednesday’s News-Press. By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Housing first or housing ready? The question reflects an ongoing debate over what the top priority should be in helping the homeless get off the street. It’s deciding whether to focus on helping them find permanent housing before providing services to address mental health and/or addiction issues. Or making sure they get the services they need first so they’re better prepared to enter
permanent housing. The Santa Barbara City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness has come out firmly in favor of the latter. Federal and state funding is “insufficient” to meet the “Housing First” mandate, the committee said during a presentation of its findings on May 11. “Housing the most vulnerable requires more supportive services than are currently available,” the committee concluded. “More interim housing options are needed for stabilization, physical and mental health care prior to permanent housing referral and placement.” Please see HOMELESS on A3
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The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to hear a challenge to a court-ordered prohibition on offshore fracking in federal waters off the California coast. The decision comes after last year’s ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that in allowing fracking, the federal government violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act. Three separate lawsuits — filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Wishtoyo Foundation, the Santa Barbarabased Environmental Defense Center and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, and the state of California — were made to kickstart this ruling. Now, after the efforts made by all of these organizations, fracking will continue to be forbidden in California waters. “California’s amazing coast and vulnerable marine life deserve this victory, which will protect the ecosystem from the many dangers of offshore fracking,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The fracking ban will help prevent more toxic chemicals from poisoning fish, sea otters and other marine life. But our ocean won’t be truly protected until offshore drilling stops once and for all. We hope this is the beginning of the end of drilling off California’s coast.” The Environmental Defense Center initially filed a lawsuit in 2014 to stop fracking and acidizing in the region after discovering that more than 50 permits had been issued by the federal government without any public or environmental review, something that Ms. Monsell noted. “Today’s decision affirms the importance of assessing
the impacts of offshore fracking on California’s marine wildlife, fisheries and coastal communities,” said Ted Morton, executive director of Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, on Monday. “With ever-mounting threats to ocean ecosystems from climate change, it is essential that federal agencies adequately evaluate the risks of oil and gas development on marine resources,” Mr. Morton said. “The Santa Barbara Channel is a truly special place with significant biological diversity,” he told the News-Press. “The channel supports several threatened and endangered species, such as blue, fin and humpback whales, and is home to a National Marine Sanctuary, National Park and 19 marine protected areas. The risks and impacts of fracking activities to wildlife, waters and habitats are substantial. Offshore fracking must be fully analyzed to determine if it can be conducted without damaging California’s coastal and marine environment.” Maggie Hall, the senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Center, told the News-Press what Santa Barbara residents can expect. “Currently we can feel good knowing the dangerous practices of fracking and acidizing off our coast cannot occur.” She added that this was a step in the positive direction to protect the California coast, but people still need to fight against big oil companies. “The oil industry has fought hard to try to conduct these activities, and we don’t see that threat going away,” Ms. Hall said. “However, in order for anything to occur, the government would need to fully comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act and Coastal Zone Management Act, as the court ordered.”
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 7-19-30-37-43 Mega: 16
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Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 3-16-19-36-60 Mega: 25
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Monday’s DAILY 3: 2-2-7 / Midday 7-8-3