SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — Santa Barbara County supervisors have rejected a bid by ExxonMobil to restart offshore oil wells shut down in 2015 after a pipeline leak caused the worst coastal spill in 25 years.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted against ExxonMobil’s request to set up interim trucking routes to transport oil: a crucial step toward allowing three dormant drilling platforms to resume production. Environmentalists praised the decision.
The oil platforms were shut down after a corroded pipeline west of Santa Barbara ruptured and spilled 140,000 gallons of oil.
ExxonMobil proposed sending up to 24,000 tanker trucks a year along coastal highways until the pipeline is repaired or replaced.
