Tag archives: oil spill
On March 13th, activists and community members clad in red gathered at the Environmental Defense Center (EDC), holding signs that read “Don’t Enable Sable” and “Oil Spills Kill.” They were there for a press conference, which preceded an anticipated town hall meeting hosted by District 37 State Assemblymember Gregg Hart and District 21 State Senator […]
Hundreds gathered outside the Santa Barbara County Administration Building on the morning of Tuesday, February 25th. The focus of the day was the Board of Supervisors meeting, where they were to consider the appeals to the County Planning Commission’s (CPC) approval of Sable Offshore Corporation’s application for a change in owner, operator, and guarantor for […]
Nearly 10 years ago – on May 19, 2015 – a corroded pipeline near Refugio beach burst, and at least 142,800 gallons of crude oil flowed down a culvert and into the ocean, contaminating one of the most biologically diverse areas of the West Coast. Over 300 dolphins, seals, sea lions, pelicans and other animals […]
A mysterious oil slick in the waters off Summerland Beach continues to be closely monitored by multiple agencies, while beach access remains closed to the public. According to Summerland Citizens Association Board President Phyllis Noble, the oil slick, which appeared earlier this month following heavy rains, now appears to be breaking up and no additional […]
Looking Back / Looking Forward Santa Barbara is often referred to as the “birthplace of the Environmental Movement.” It is true that back on April 22, 1970, Santa Barbara had become a key catalyst for the first Earth Day, having galvanized public outrage a year earlier when it experienced the worst oil spill in U.S. […]
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) held another of its lecture evenings, this one about “The Refugio Incident: A Wildlife Responder’s Perspective” as told by Elaine Ibarra. Elaine graduated from California State University at Channel Islands with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and is a trained and experienced oil spill responder. She had extensive volunteer […]
Last weekend, Santa Barbara marked the 50th anniversary of the famous oil spill that befouled local beaches and, through inspiring Earth Day and the creation the EPA, basically birthed the environmental movement. Earlier in the month, Montecito marked the one-year anniversary of the devastating debris flows that killed 23 people and caused millions in damages. […]
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) presented another of its nautical lectures, this time about the 1969 oil blowout and the birth of the environmental movement. Fifty years ago I was living in Europe, but even without cell phones we knew about the disaster in Santa Barbara, California. A blowout on Union Oil’s platform A […]
Santa Barbara photographer-videographer Isaac Hernandez, a Spanish immigrant who has lived in our Eden by the Beach for three decades, has compiled a film documentary he describes as “a love letter to the history, people, environment, and organizations” that make our tony town so special. The 53-minute project, Better Together: Through Oil, Mud and Fire […]
