Exxon seeks to restart three aging offshore oil platforms in Santa Barbara Channel shut down since the Refugio disaster with up to 70 roundtrip oil tanker trucks per day on Coastal Highway 101 and Route 166.
Tanker trucks are the most dangerous means of transporting oil with a history of overturning, exploding, shutting down main evacuations zones and igniting wildfires. Tanker truck accidents have shut down the 101 in Goleta. One recently crashed on Route 166 and spilled more than 4,000 gallons of oil into the Cuyama River, threatening a reservoir. Oil trucks also pose a threat to commuters on the 101 and anyone who lives or works near the freeway or downwind of Exxon's polluting facilities.
The three 40-year-old platforms Exxon wants to restart have been shut down since the 2015 Plains Pipeline failure and oil spill at Refugio State Beach. The Refugio disaster sent between 140,000-450,000 gallons of oil onto the coastline and into Santa Barbara Channel resulting in at least 202 dead birds and 99 dead mammals, including at least 46 sea lions and 12 dolphins. Beaches and sea life were covered in crude costing hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up.
Photo: A tanker truck explosion in Dallas, 2011. Screenshot from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6hQ-Uutq4k