Oil company violated court order by restarting Santa Barbara pipeline, judge finds

(CN) — A Santa Barbara Superior Court judge ruled, on Friday, that an offshore oil company violated a court order when it restarted a pipeline system off the coast of California at the behest of the Trump administration.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright directed Sable Offshore Corporation to restart the Santa Ynez pipeline system to “address supply disruption risks caused by California policies that have left the region and U.S. military forces dependent on foreign oil,” according to the department in a press release. The system, which carries oil from three offshore platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel, has been shut down since the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill, when 142,800 gallons of crude spilled into the Pacific Ocean, killing at least 200 birds and 99 mammals and fouling 7 miles of coastline.

Before Sable bought the pipelines in 2024, they had been shut down under a federal consent decree requiring the operator to obtain state waivers before restarting operations. Since acquiring the system, Sable has attempted to restart it unsuccessfully. Last year, the company said one of its platforms had resumed drilling and was storing oil while awaiting approval to reopen the pipelines. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation then sought a preliminary injunction, which the court granted.

In March, Sable moved to dissolve or modify the preliminary injunction, arguing the Trump administration had directed it to resume operations. The plaintiffs, meanwhile, filed a motion seeking to hold Sable in contempt. On Friday, the judge ruled in favor of the conservation groups.

The department of energy’s order, wrote Judge Donna Geck, “does not by itself permit violation of other federal law… Consequently, in the present procedural posture of the requirements binding on Sable, Sable continues to be obligated to the requirements of the Federal Consent Decree.”

“The court is deeply concerned with noncompliance with the preliminary injunction,” the judge added. “At the same time, the court is again mindful of the pendency of numerous other proceedings bearing on the Las Flores Pipelines.”

Geck set a hearing date of May 22 to determine whether Sable should be held in contempt.

“The court made the right call keeping this injunction in place in the face of Trump officials’ shamefully authoritarian attempt to sidestep California’s laws and environmental protections,” said Talia Nimmer, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a written statement. “Every second this pipeline is in operation puts California’s iconic coast, its residents and its wildlife at risk of another devastating spill. Trump and his cronies won’t stop trying to prop up oil industry profits, but we’ll keep fighting to protect California’s coastal communities and hold Sable accountable.”

“This preliminary injunction is another reminder that Sable is not above the law,” added Mati Waiya, executive director for the Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation, in the same press release. “The rash restart of Santa Ynez Unit and Las Flores Pipeline System operations is a serious threat to Chumash lifeways, our sacred sites, and our communities.

Sable Offshore did not immediately respond to an email requesting a comment on the ruling.

The state of California is also suing the Trump administration, challenging its order to restart the oil drilling operations.

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