Orange County Coastal Keepers Host Workshop to Decommission Oil Rigs off the Coast

NEWPORT BEACH⸺ On April 21, Orange County Coastkeeper and the California Artificial Reef Enhancement Program hosted an all-day workshop to discuss and hammer out a potential plan to remove offshore oil rigs off the coast of Orange County. Spurred forward by the 2021 Huntington Beach oil spill and the logistical issues surrounding the decommissioning of Platform Holly in Santa Barbara, OC Coastkeeper and CARE created a workshop to discuss the path forward for Orange County. “It is easy to have the oil platforms fade into the background a bit,” said Lauren Chase, staff attorney for Coastkeeper. “You are used to seeing them, and they are there, and you don’t give them much thought. And when you have something like a spill, it is a pretty tangible stark reminder of what’s going on out there, and I feel like the more questions I ask, the more questions I have about offshore oil production and the process. We have some platforms that are over 50 years old offshore in Orange County, so when the spill happened, it raised a lot of questions.” The workshop had several speakers and stakeholders who gathered to find a way forward to remove the oil rigs off the coast. Speakers...