On Tuesday morning, environmental advocates gathered outside the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors' meeting, urging officials to reject Sable Offshore's permit application.
The company wants to restart the pipeline responsible for the 2015 Refugio spill.
"We don't want another spill to potentially happen, and that's one of the main reasons we're here," said UCSB student Sneha Namboodiri.
"I think it's really important that we're all here and standing up to fight for our coastline," said 10th grader Ethan Maday.
Former state senator Hannah-Beth Jackson emphasized the board's obligations to the public during the demonstration.
"Today, the Board of Supervisors has an opportunity, a responsibility, a duty, to uphold our local laws and to hold Sable accountable for any egregious and unlawful behavior," Jackson said.
Inside the meeting, supervisors heard arguments from both environmental advocates and industry representatives about Sable's financial responsibility and the safety of the oil pipeline infrastructure.
Jason Joyce, who has worked with Sable for six months, defended the potential new pipeline.
"We feel like it's going to be one of the safest pipelines operated in the country," Joyce said.
While Joyce could not provide specific details about safety improvements, he emphasized that preventing another spill is crucial for the company.
"We just know it's critical to not have that happen again, so all our jobs depend on it… so it's important. It's what's most important to the people that work there," Joyce said.
Sable's Adam Maingot argued that locally produced oil offers environmental advantages over imported alternatives.
"Any other oil in the rest of the world is produced with almost no regulation, and so the oil produced here is produced in the most friendly way, with the strictest environmental concerns possible," Maingot said.
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1, with Supervisor Nelson dissenting, to postpone their decision until Dec. 16 to gather additional findings that could support an appeal to deny the permit transfer.
