Santa Barbara’s Heal the Ocean Receives $500K to Map and Cap Abandoned Oil Wells

Lookout Peak Park was full of dignitaries and environmentalists on Tuesday, November 28, for a check presentation against the glimmering Summerland coastline, dotted with offshore oil rigs and wells. 

Those wells were referenced throughout the event — they’ve muddied the surrounding waters for decades, leading to the $500,000 check in support of mapping and capping the leaky, abandoned oil-spouts. 

Senator Monique Limón, with the help of Assemblymember Gregg Hart, secured the half-million dollars in state funds to go toward Santa Barbara–based nonprofit Heal the Ocean’s Summerland Oil Mitigation Study (SOMS) with Bubbleology Research International (BRI). 

“We want to ensure that orphan wells are not left poorly abandoned,” said Limón. “And that they don’t become something that a taxpayer then has to clean up.”

Hundreds of submerged wellheads that need to be re-abandoned still exist off the coast, many of which were previously plugged and abandoned using cost-cutting measures, such as stuffing them with clothes and rags.

Bubbleology’s principal investigator, Dr. Ira Leifer, is leading the study to analyze the ocean floor beneath the leaking oil wells. The point is to determine a more efficient approach to re-abandonment through painting a picture of the landscape, including what’s underneath the sand and nearshore, to gain a better understanding of the oil flows. 

“These are not the only leaking wells in the state,” Leifer said, glancing at the coastline. “What we’re doing here will be a template of how to use technology to find the most effective use of the money we have available.” 

The initiative aims to find the most effective methods to identify and address the coast’s most problematic oil wells and to support the continued funding of the California State Lands Commission’s efforts to cap those wells. So far, seven legacy wells have been plugged and abandoned off the Central Coast, with an eye to “reduce the presence of oil in Summerland,” said Sheri Pemberton, chief of external affairs and legislative liaison for State Lands. 

When HTO found out about the funds, it was “a big surprise,” said Hillary Hauser, executive director of Heal the Ocean. “When it came through, we were yelling and screaming,” she continued. “All the funds we’re receiving will go toward geologically studying the ocean floor…. State Lands will not stop until every hole is plugged.”

Also in attendance was former senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, who authored the 2017 Senate Bill 44 Legacy Well Re-Abandonment program, which annually allocates $2 million to cap leaking oil wells along the California coast. The work began in 2018 with the successful re-abandonment of Becker #1 at Summerland Beach. 

“Santa Barbara is a small community, but it’s had a very large impact on the environment,” said HTO Consultant and Program Director Harry Rabin. “This was a terribly needed study.”