California Sues DOE to Halt Offshore Pipeline Restart

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit on Monday against the U.S. Department of Energy in federal court in San Francisco, seeking to halt a recent federal order that restarted a long-idled offshore oil pipeline system near Santa Barbara. The action challenges the use of emergency powers under the Defense Production Act to bypass state regulations and a prior federal consent decree, amid rising fuel prices linked to the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.

The lawsuit targets a March 13 order issued by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, which directed Sable Offshore Corp., the current owner of the Santa Ynez Unit and its associated pipelines, to resume operations. The system, which connects offshore platforms to refineries in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, and the Bay Area, had been shut down since 2015 following a pipeline rupture that spilled more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean near Refugio State Beach. That incident, caused by a corroded pipe under the ownership of a previous company, contaminated beaches and harmed marine life, leading to extended shutdowns and legal requirements for state approvals before any restart.