The name Greka has been added to the daily vocabulary of many Santa Barbara County residents over the last six weeks. Sadly, this awareness has occurred for all of the wrong reason.

Instead of focusing on the many areas in which Santa Barbara is once again leading the nation with innovative environmental programs and sustainable technologies, we are faced with confronting the outdated and dangerous remains of aging oil infrastructure operated by a company seemingly with a history of neglect. This is the core of the challenge the county and our federal and state regulatory partners face with Greka Energy Corp.’s long record of violations, including the two major oil spills at its facilities recently.

Santa Barbara County has a long history of both onshore and offshore oil development. Many of the associated oil facilities contain aging infrastructure and have been sold by large corporations to smaller companies. Greka currently owns 939 oil wells — 685 idle and 254 active — and 77 onshore processing and transportation facilities in the county. At these sites, Greka is responsible for 10,767 barrels of oil that have been spilled since 2003. To put that staggering number in perspective, ir is more than the combined oil field releases of the other 11 energy companies that operate within the county over the same period.

Greka’s record has put the company clearly on the radar screen of the regulatory agencies charged with protecting our environment and public safety. Greka has been forced to pay significant fines including $1.3 million to the Environmental Protection Agency, $545,691 to the Air Pollution Control District, and $199,366 to our county Fire Department. Greka has also cost taxpayers dearly; the county alone has spent approximately $2 million in staffing costs to respond to the 400 incidents since 1999.

The latest chapter in Greka’s sordid history occurred with a Dec. 7 spill at Greka’s Bell facility northwest of Los Alamos. Approximately 75,000 gallons of crude oil were released, much of it emptying into a creek on the site. County, state and federal agencies responded, and the Board of Supervisors set a hearing for mid-January.

Before the hearing could even occur, however, we were faced with another significant spill at a Greka facility. That discharge, on Jan. 5 at the Davis Tank Battery facility in Los Olivos, was roughly 84,000 gallons and resulted in many of the same impacts as the December spill. I recently had the opportunity to visit this site with Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, to see the devastation and remediation effort firsthand.

On Jan. 15, the Board of Supervisors held a hearing on the history of incidents at Greka facilities and what additional steps the county could take to address this situation. We received reports and testimony from county staff, our regulatory partners, interested members of the public, and even other energy companies. I believe this testimony clearly illustrated a history of irresponsible operation and drew the conclusion that immediate action needed to be taken to prevent further disasters.

As a result, my colleagues and I enacted a series of measures, by a 4-0 vote. First, we reallocated staff to maximize our existing permitting and enforcement powers, including utilizing third-party inspectors paid for at Greka’s expense. Second, we implemented a series of new ordinances and processes aimed at addressing rogue operators such as Greka, including the development of a multiple-response ordinance, development of a high-risk offender ordinance, development of a centralized violation history database, and increased inspection and permitting fees for facilities requiring extraordinary time for inspection. Finally, we agreed to hold regular hearings to monitor this issue, and to continue to explore what additional legal options are available to the county and its regulatory partners.

We must remain committed to continuing to work to address the serious environmental, health and safety impacts posed by Greka and to address the larger issue of aging oil and gas infrastructure in our county. This will not be an easy task; in fact, since our hearing Greka has logged at least seven additional incidents, some resulting in stop-work orders and facility closures.

However, you have my strong commitment that I will remain focused on ensuring that our community’s shared outrage about this situation is translated into actions that yield the desired result of a clean environment and a healthy and safe Santa Barbara County.

First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal is chairman of the county Board of Supervisors.