Capping of the Becker well, February 27, 2018, Summerland beach, California. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care
Excerpts;
Summerland Beach was a scene of great joy earlier this week, as the barge from Curtin Maritime, Long Beach, arrived to the coastline and positioned itself to lower the construction equipment to cap the infamous leaking Becker Well. The capping has begun on the Summerland coast where the Becker well has been leaking for years.
After years of beach closures and funds seeking, the oil well that was abandoned in the late 1800s is finally being properly remediated by the State Lands Commission this week at a cost of $1.4 million. Summerland Beach has approximately 191 additional uncapped wells, but Becker was identified as the worst culprit and is believed to have polluted the beach and near-shore waters with leaking oil for decades…
Read Full Article; Coastal View (02-28-2018)
Leaking Becker oil well to be capped; edhat(02-27-2018)
Summerland Beach was a scene of great joy [Monday morning], as the barge from Curtin Maritime, Long Beach, arrived to the coastline and positioned itself to lower the construction equipment to cap the infamous leaking Becker Well. Heal the Ocean was there to confer with State Lands Commission officials, who were watching the operation from Lookout Park, and to discuss future operations to follow on the other offshore/underwater wells…
Leaking oil well from the 1900’s getting a long awaited new cap in Summerland; KEYT (02-27-2018)
The capping has begun on the Summerland coast where the Becker well has been leaking for years. It’s a $1.5 million project. Years ago when the aging well was leaking in the near shore waters, there was community outrage. Getting it fixed was not easy and funding was never found.
Executive Director Hillary Hauser with Heal the Ocean, a local non-profit, stood at the fence line on Lookout Park and said loudly, “it’s fabulous, we’ve been waiting for it for 100 years.”
Work to clean up leaking oil off Summerland starts Monday, CA; KEYT (02-21-2018)
After years of community pressure, one of the big polluting wells off the Summerlamd coast in California, will be capped in a project that starts next week…
Abandoned oil wellhead exposed after rains wash away sand at Summerlamd Beach; CA; Keyt (02-27-2017)
Bill Introduced to Cap Old Oil Wells, Edhat (01-26-2016)
State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson has just introduced a bill to monitor and cap California’s old, abandoned and leaking oil wells. It is estimated that there are more than 200 of these so-called ‘legacy’ wells in California, the majority located along the Summerland and Ellwood beaches in Santa Barbara County and along the Central Coast…
Summerland Beach’s Oil Seepage Mystery, Independent (04-23-2011)
Before it became the quaint coastal antiquing capital of the Californian South Coast that it is today, with a reputation for stunningly scenic and often empty beaches, Summerland was the hub of Santa Barbara’s oceanic oil rush at the start of the 20th century, the beach providing ground zero for a series of piers and primitive oil rigs harvesting crude from hundreds of offshore wells…
