State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson’s Senate Bill 44 — the Coastal Oil Well Clean Up and Remediation Act — passed off the Senate floor last week on a 31-5 bipartisan vote. The bill aims to allocate up to $2 million annually — derived from state mineral leases — toward properly capping leaky coastal oil wells long-abandoned by companies no longer in business. Several of these so-called orphaned wellheads — such as the Becker Well (pictured)— have fouled Summerland shores for years, prompting beach closures in 2015. Jackson’s bill now faces the Assembly.
Coastal Well Cleanup Bill Clears Senate
Bills aims to allocate $2 million to capping leaky wells.
