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The Oil Spill of 1969

The first major oil spill in the world to gain international attention was not the first major oil spill in the Channel coastal region. In 1904, an oil well near Satan Maria burst and a tower of raw petroleum shot into the air 150’, flowed out across the land, spewing 12,000 barrels of crude oil a day, and formed miles and miles of a thick black oil slick that continued to spew out of control for three months. A nearby oil well blew out of control in 1910, spewing at least nine million barrels of oil, out of control for a full year and half.

When Platform A, five miles off the Santa Barbara Channel coastline, blew out of control in 1969, it’s estimated three million gallon oil spill would shock the world as it devastated beaches, wildlife, commercial fishing, and sent an entire community into emergency alert. When the Interior Secretary, Walter Hickel, arrived at the Channel and ordered all drilling to stop, he said " I knew it was bad, but I didn’t expect anything like this. " And then President Nixon commented two months later from a press conference on the beach " What is involved is something much bigger than Santa Barbara. What is involved in the use of our resources of the sea and of the land in a more effective way and with more concern for preserving the beauty and natural resources that are so important to any kind of society that we want for the future.", ironically echoing the words of the Santa Barbarans who had been fighting since the mid 1950s to keep oil drilling out of the coastal waters. The lessons from the oil spills inland in Santa Maria, which saw close to ten million barrels - not just gallons - spew out of control earlier in the century had clearly not been learnt. But the damage to the highly public Channel coastline in 1969 was seen around the world on television day after day, and sparked an environmental movement still alive today.