The Devastating Impacts of the Refugio Beach Oil Spill
BY: Ashley Blacow
On May 19, 2015, a pipeline located above Highway 101 ruptured in Santa Barbara spilling more than 100,000 gallons of oil. The oil tarnished treasured beaches, contaminated ocean waters and wildlife, and impacted people reliant on a healthy ocean. It’s been 10 years since the Refugio Beach oil spill and as the United States considers expansions to offshore oil and gas drilling, we must remember the devastating impacts the Refugio Beach oil spill left.
THE DEVASTATING IMPACTS OF THE REFUGIO BEACH OIL SPILL
The Refugio Beach Oil Spill had profound consequences for California’s coast. After the more than 100,000 gallons of oil spilled, much of the oil ran through Refugio Beach and into the ocean. While the pipeline ruptured onshore, the oil flowing through it originated from offshore oil drilling platforms, impacting the same area of ocean devastated by the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill.
The Refugio spill affected approximately 1,500 acres of shoreline habitat and 2,200 acres of benthic subtidal habitat. Oil coated hundreds of animals including sea lions, dolphins, lobsters, and birds resulting in numerous strandings and deaths. This includes an estimated 232 marine mammals that were injured or killed, along with an estimated 558 birds killed (many brown pelicans).
But precious wildlife wasn’t the only impact, the spill also carried a hefty price tag in economic losses to local recreation. In total, the spill resulted in about $3.9 million of lost recreational value from missed opportunities to camp, recreationally fish, or otherwise enjoy the beauty the beaches have to offer.
IS CALIFORNIA PROTECTED FROM EXPANDED OFFSHORE DRILLING?
Until recently, it seemed as though there were reassurances that California’s beautiful coastline — and the entire West Coast for that matter — was safeguarded from expanded offshore oil and gas drilling. Californians fought for and won a long-standing moratorium on new oil leases in state waters. State laws were also passed to prevent new infrastructure from being built in state marine waters that would serve drilling rigs associated with any new federal offshore leasing. Aging offshore oil rigs are in the process of being decommissioned. The new Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary was designated, prohibiting new oil drilling in a large ocean area from Santa Barbara to Pismo Beach.
Then in January 2025, President Biden permanently protected more than 625 million acres of United States federal waters, including the East Coast, West Coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico, and areas off Alaska’s Bering Sea, from new offshore oil and gas drilling.
PROTECTING OUR FUTURE FROM OFFSHORE DRILLING
Despite these decades of proactive efforts, the threat of another oil spill looms.
In California, the risk of devastating oil spills has resurfaced as a Texas-based company, Sable Offshore Corporation is working to re-start the same pipeline that caused the Refugio Beach oil spill. Sable continues to press ahead, ignoring multiple cease and desist orders. And to make matters worse, the Trump administration has initiated a new five-year plan that will determine where the federal government will sell leases for new offshore drilling. This puts all of California’s federal waters, and every U.S. coast, under consideration for new oil drilling leases – even in protected areas like our national marine sanctuaries.
Thankfully there are strong leaders in Congress who are standing up to protect our coast with a package of bills that have the power to codify permanent coastal protections for millions of acres of U.S. oceans including California’s. If passed, the legislation would exclude these areas from future new lease sales.
The 2015 and 1969 spills off Santa Barbara are just two examples of the devastating impacts oil spills can have. These spills underscore the incredible risks that come with offshore oil drilling, and the disastrous harm oil spills bring to our ocean ecosystems, coastal economies, and communities. Coastal communities and businesses from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts have made it clear they don’t want more offshore oil drilling. There is no way to take back the legacy of destruction from an oil spill like Refugio, but we can prevent them from happening by stopping the expansion of offshore drilling. It’s time to join together and defend our coasts again.
HOW YOU CAN HELP DEFEND OUR OCEANS
Learn more about Oceana’s campaign to stop the expansion of new offshore drilling.
Take action to help defend our coasts from more offshore drilling
