History Of Southern California s Shoreline And...

Introduction On the afternoon of January 28, 1969, a terrible environmental disaster occurred when a well blowout on the Union Oil Company platform A, causing one of the largest oil spill in the United States. The platform was located in Summerland Oil Field pier which 6 miles east of city of Santa Barbara. Riggers desperately tried to repair the well before oil started spreading to the shoreline. Needless to say, the effects of the oil spill sparked outrage from the local community and the media that inevitably caused ecological effects, safety and ethical concerns. It took oil workers a total of 11 days to cap the ruptured pipe, while an estimated 3 million gallons of poisonous black crude oil showered the Pacific Ocean. Sadly, oceans†¦show more content†¦33). Oil companies and prospectors quickly started developing oil rigs on private beaches, and in 1896, the world’s first offshore drilling rigs was originated in Summerland, California. Summerland was a tourist town known for the tranquil climate, beautiful beaches, and health resorts. As oil rigs were being constructed, drilling was often rushed and the marine water suffered ecological harm by being the dumping grounds for waste and other harmful conditions. The local community and environmentalist were increasingly becoming outraged when the well- manicure coastlines were rapidly becoming disfigured by noisy, disruptive, plastering oil rigs. During this time, all offshore activities were unregulated by the state and the only legal requirement for prospector was that they negotiate an agreement with the owner of the ocean front property of which drilling rig would be extended (Wilder, p.31). As technology evolved, offshore drilling moved progressively into deeper water and farther away from oceanfront. In 1958, Richfield Oil Company developed the first drilling man-made island in Rincon where there was a substantial amount of oil was found. With the mounting pressure and high demand to produce more o il and gas, geologists studied the anticlinal trends and discovered the abundance of oil productive in Rincon Island extended underneath the Santa Barbara Channel. By the 1960’s, oil prospectors began to partner with one another developing into large oil