Starting Monday, two oil piers that stand along the Goleta coastline will be torn down.
The City of Goleta announced the project on Monday, saying the project to remove the piers along Haskell's Beach is a collaboration with the State Lands Commission. The process could take as long as six months.
"These two derelict structures represent the last vestiges of pier-based oil and gas production in California, and their removal is a major milestone for the region and the state," State Controller and State Lands Commission chair Betty T. Yee said in a statement.
Two pier and caisson structures, known as PRC 421-1 and 421-2, are remnants of the Ellwood Oil Field that produced oil from the 1920s to the 1990s. At one point, the area near Haskell's Beach had 13 piers as well as oil storage and processing facilities on shore.
Crews will be at work on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. starting Aug. 29. Some work will have to be scheduled around low-tide cycles.
Officials say sections of the beach may close temporarily while crews are at work, but the beach will stay open the rest of the time.
