Court Allows Environmental Groups to Join Santa Barbara County in Legal Fight with Sable and Exxon
July 28, 2025
SANTA BARBARA, CA – Friday, a federal court allowed the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) and its clients to intervene in a lawsuit against Santa Barbara County filed by fossil fuel companies trying to restart a huge oil and gas operation on the Gaviota Coast.
Sable Offshore Corp., ExxonMobil, and their affiliates are challenging the County’s decision to NOT transfer permits to Sable to operate Exxon’s old oil and gas facilities after a tie vote by the Board of Supervisors in February.
Sable applied to take over Exxon’s permits as part of its effort to restart the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU), the oil and gas facilities formerly owned by Exxon that include three offshore drilling platforms, onshore processing plants, and the same defective pipeline responsible for the Plains oil spill at Refugio State Beach in 2015—one of the worst oil disasters in state history.
“The Court’s decision gives the nonprofit groups a voice in the case, ensuring the Court is able to hear environmental and community perspectives—not just those of the fossil fuel industry and the County,” said EDC Executive Director Alex Katz.
At the heart of this dispute are the County’s procedures for transferring County permits for oil and gas facilities from one company to another. The County’s ordinance was adopted in 2002 in part to ensure that any companies taking over permits for oil and gas facilities would have the skills or resources to operate safely or clean up after a spill.
In granting the environmental groups’ request to intervene in the case, the court noted that the County’s review of Sable’s application to transfer permits from ExxonMobil to Sable does not merely address the transfer of the permits, but “creates an administrative process designed to bar the transfer of [permits] to a transferee that would place the environment at risk.” The court noted that the purpose of the County’s ordinance is to “safeguard the natural resources and environment of the county of Santa Barbara,” and that the environmental groups’ conservation interests would be affected by a decision to transfer the permits.
In recent months, Sable rushed to complete repairs on the corroded pipeline despite multiple cease-and-desist orders from the state Coastal Commission and numerous notices of violation from the Coastal Commission and other state agencies.
In April, the Coastal Commission issued a record $18 million fine and a third cease-and-desist order, however the company immediately continued its work on the pipeline until a Superior Court judge issued an injunction halting repairs pending resolution of litigation between the company and the Coastal Commission. According to the Coastal Commission, much of the company’s work destroyed or disrupted sensitive habitats in the Coastal Zone.
Sable’s request to transfer the facility permits was initially approved by the Planning Commission at the recommendation of County staff. But after strong opposition led by EDC and its clients, the Board deadlocked, and the County has not transferred the permits—leading to this lawsuit.
EDC and its clients are stepping into this litigation to defend the County’s refusal to transfer the permits. The Board’s 2-2 vote in February means the company’s application was not approved by the Board and the transfer of permits should not happen.
EDC represents Get Oil Out! (GOO!), the Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN), the Sierra Club, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, and EDC in this case. For more information, go to Sable’s Dangerous Oil Project.
###
The Environmental Defense Center defends nature and advances environmental justice on California’s Central Coast through advocacy and legal action. Since 1977, EDC has represented more than 140 nonprofit, community-based organizations to protect the Central Coast and the Earth’s climate. EDC is funded through private donations, receiving no government assistance. More at: www.EnvironmentalDefenseCenter.org.
