The California State Lands Commission made progress on the path to decommissioning 60-year-old, 231-foot-tall Platform Holly, located two miles off the shores of Goleta, with public outreach meetings on Thursday.

The commission held two public meetings — one midday and the other in the evening — at the Goleta City Council Chambers to receive public comment on the potential impacts of decommissioning Platform Holly.

A handful of people shared their opinions on the project and what possible environmental impacts they believe should be considered in the report. 

While many speakers spoke in favor of one alternative over another, they were united in their concerns about the decommissioning’s impacts on marine life.

Their comments will help guide the decommissioning project’s draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which looks at potential consequences a proposed project could have on aesthetics, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, energy and noise, among many other categories.

The EIR also looks at any mitigation measures.

Platform Holly stopped producing oil after the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill. Its owners, Venoco LLC, filed for bankruptcy two years later in 2017. 

The California State Lands Commission and ExxonMobil agreed to decommission the platform and its facilities in 2018. As of 2023, all 30 of Holly’s underground oil and gas wells have been blocked, Noozhawk reported.

Under the proposed plans, Platform Holly and all its pipelines and power cables will be fully removed, with excavation five feet below the mudline. The shell mound directly underneath the platform’s giant steel legs will also be partially removed.

All of those materials will be transported to a facility to be processed, recycled or disposed of.

The pipeline crossings through Haskell’s Beach off of Hollister Avenue are also proposed for removal. This could give the community better access to the beach during the winter, when the pipelines are typically exposed. 

The commission report discussed Thursday also includes two alternative options: partial removal and leaving the platform as it is now. 

Under the partial plan, the platform’s topsides and jacket to 85 feet below the water’s surface would be removed, based on U.S. Coast Guard recommendations, according to the commission report. 

Even though the first meeting was held in the middle of the day on Thursday, residents, environmental leaders and UC Santa Barbara students packed the Goleta City Council Chambers at 130 Cremona Drive. 

Chris Goldblatt, founder and CEO of the Fish Reef Project, said removing the shell mound to 5 feet below the surface could have a significant environmental impact.

“That is a huge amount of biomass you’re removing, and so the sheer environmental impact of destroying all of that marine life to me is almost unconscionable,” he said.

Commenters had split opinions on the partial removal alternative. Some asked the commissioners to include the impacts for that alternative in the draft EIR.

Vivienne Chankai, a third-year UCSB student and advocacy chair with the university’s student Environmental Affairs Board, asked that all the potential impacts associated with the partial removal alternative be considered.

Chankai cited “leaving toxic debris on the sea floor, introduction of invasive species, and risk to public safety” as a few possible impacts.

Linda Kropp, chief counsel with the Environmental Defense Center, spoke on behalf of Get Oil Out! Kropp asked the commission to include different technology options for the removal of the structures, cables and mounds in the report.

She said she also hopes the report will outline the mitigation measures for potential air emissions, air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.  

Community members still have an opportunity to submit comments here to the California State Lands Commission until March 6. 

The commission will open up the draft EIR for public viewing and comments when it is completed.

The commission hopes to bring the final EIR report for consideration in early 2027, according to Christine Day, a senior environmental scientist with the California State Lands Commission.

Editor’s Note: Platform Holly is 60 years old.