From July 21-25, a little over 2 weeks from now, Summerland’s Lookout Park and the beach below the park will be the staging area for heavy oil construction equipment to be used in capping Olsson 805, a beach well located on the west end of Summerland Beach. The California State Lands Commission posted a Public Notice about the temporary closure of Lookout Park and heavy equipment that will be used on the beach below.

All access to the Olsson well will be from land (no barge needed!) during low tide periods. The work will include 1) excavating the sand to expose the well; 2) driving pipe pile over the well into an impermeable cap rock to encapsulate the old well; 3) filling the space between the pipe pile and the well with cement which will act as a primary barrier to the migration of hydrocarbons, and 4) welding a steel plate on top of the pipe pile, which acts as a secondary barrier to oil migration.

Spill response equipment and trained personnel will be stationed in the Lookout Park parking lot during the operation as a precautionary measure.

On another note: Heal the Ocean has received inquiries about the horrendous amounts of oil and tar that have blown onto Summerland beach in the recent high winds.

We want everyone to know that our Field Advisor Harry Rabin is working with State Lands contractors right now, to survey the area with drones and other sophisticated equipment, to pinpoint the source(s). The suspects are 3 wells on the former Treadwell Pier behind Treadwell #10, which was capped in 2020. Please click here for Harry Rabin’s diagram illustrating the focus points being studied.

Please stay tuned for news we will pass on from the State Lands Commission regarding the next oil well to be capped – Duquesne 910 – scheduled for the end of this year, December 2021. In the meantime Harry Rabin and the SLC engineers, InterAct, will be working on getting at the source of the mystery oil and tar now on the beach – please stay tuned!