Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus was among a group of environmentalists, elected officials, and community activists gathered on Thursday at the Environmental Defense Center to demand state agencies do more to protect the coast from offshore drilling by Sable Offshore Corp.
"Nothing brings Californians together like protecting our coast and we are not going to let that happen without a fight," said Louis-Dreyfus.
Chief Counsel for the Environmental Defense Center Linda Krop says despite stop work orders from four state agencies Sable has continued efforts to restart the same pipeline that caused the massive Refugio oil spill in 2015.
"The California Coastal Commission, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Regional Water Quality Control Board have all told Sable, stop what you're doing. You need to come in and get permits," explains Krop.
But Sable has kept working according to Krop who tells me the state hasn’t held them accountable for breaking the law.
"If Sable doesn't have to follow the law. No other company has to follow the law. So it's really important for the entire state," said Krop.
In a public meeting held later in the day, California's Natural Resource Secretary Wade Crowfoot was asked why the state hasn't taken action against Sable.
"Well, there there's any number of actions that are happening, among these agencies. And there's a lot of back and forth with the applicant. And so that's what we're here to break down. " said Crowfoot.
Crowfoot hopes the meeting with eight of the state agencies involved in environmental issues will bring more clarity to the public, but he didn’t promise resolutions.
"Today is really about breaking that down. What's happened to date? What are the actions that the agencies are taking and then what is being planned here in the in coming weeks," said Crowfoot.
We reached out to Sable Offshore Corp. but have not received a response.
