Curtin Barge pulled up to cap Becker Well in Summerland, CA in February 2018.
Photo by Harry Rabin, On the Wave Productions.
Heal the Ocean has received the exciting news that the State Lands Commission (SLC) will cap two more wells on Summerland Beach later this year, during the last half of 2021!
Olsson #805 and Duquesne #910 were identified in the original CEQA document that was a part of the process for the recent capping of Treadwell and NorthStar. Since the engineering was also completed for these wells, SLC elected to finish all the wells prepared in the documents already completed.
Duquesne and Olsson will be capped in the second half of 2021 using money from SB44, the Coastal Hazards and Legacy Oil and Gas Well Removal and Remediation Program, authored by former CA State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson. The plugging and abandonment for Duquesne and Olsson will be less complex than the previous cappings because of their locations in the tidal zone. For a quick view of the Treadwell/NorthStar project, have a look at this short video produced by InterAct, the engineers contracted by SLC to lay out the work.
The work is expected to start after July 2021 when the next State fiscal year starts and State Lands Commission can access the next annual $2 million from SB44. The price tag for the Duquesne/Olsson project is estimated at $1 million.
A description of the project is contained within the SLC progress report that describes the completion of the Treadwell and NorthStar projects. Heal the Ocean Advisory Board member Harry Rabin continues to work with SLC contractors InterAct to monitor the results of that work, and to identify other sources of oil in the area, namely seeps. HTO is grateful for the generous support of Nora McNeely Hurley and the Manitou Fund to pay for much of Harry's consultation and dive work.
HTO thanks the State Lands Commission for proceeding ahead with Summerland work - there was the possibility of the next round of SB44 funding being used at Haskell's Beach, near the Bacara, where there are other oil problems. Summerland Beach is ever so much cleaner, healthier, and happier since Treadwell and NorthStar were capped in November 2020, but with this upcoming work, soon this stretch of coastline will be next to pristine.
Better yet, there might be enough money left over in this funding cycle to tackle Haskells.