The Santa Barbara Oil Spill
- Date Range
- January 28, 1969 – January 1, 1970
- Title
- The Santa Barbara Oil Spill
- What occurred
- On January 28, 1969, the Union Oil Company was drilling in the Pacific coast of Santa Barbara and spilled 3 million of gallons of crude oil into the beautiful Santa Barbara Channel. This body of water has crystal clear waters, is home to countless species of wildlife, has white sand beaches and it a great economic hub for the state of California. The tragic, man-create oil spill covered miles of the coastline and killed thousands of fish, birds, seaweed and other organisms. The cleanup of this oil spill was not only extremely expensive, but there was no clear, effective way to do it. Hundreds of men were sent to Santa Barbara to scatter hay along the beaches, because it is good with absorption. That hay was discarded after the oil was soaked up, and thrown into dumpsters or other bodies of water, which defeated the whole purpose of the clean up efforts. Because of this catastrophic event, President Nixon ended oil drilling and extraction in Santa Barbara. Additionally, he signed the National Environmental Policy Act (1969), which requires companies to file environmental impact reports. The Santa Barbara Oil Spill was a significant oil spill in US history and held severe impacts on the economy and the environment. This event opened the eyes of so many Americans and revealed the horrors of human activity on the environment.
- Location
- 714 Bond Avenue, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
- Image Citation
- https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-barbara-oil-spill-1969-20150520-htmlstory.html
- Student name(s)
- Jeremy Schmelkin