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Platform Grace

Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Professional underwater photographer Matthew Addison takes us on a trip to platform "Grace," one of the larger oil rigs commissioned of the coast of Santa Barbara. Over the past 20-40 years platform Grace along with many of the other oil rigs in our channel have developed artificial reefs.

I am a photographer specializing in underwater imaging and also a scuba diving instructor. I have been teaching diving since 1990 and am a PADI master instructor and TDI instructor trainer on the Hollis PRISM rebreather. I live in Los Angeles, CA and New York.

1. What are the benefits and what are the disadvantages of the oil rigs here in our channel?

This is the ongoing debate, which has been raging since the Santa Clara and Carpenteria offshore oil field off the Santa barbara coast first began producing oil and natural gas in the late 1960's. A well blowout at the Dos Cuadras field in January 1969 caused a large spill, and a public outcry against offshore drilling. Shortly after the spill, the State of California placed a moratorium on offshore drilling on lands under state control until tighter and better controls could be put in place.
About 8.8 million barrels of oil and about 22 billion cubic-feet of natural gas were pumped from Platform Grace's wells during its previous operation, which began in 1980 and stopped 17 years later. Presently, Platform Grace has begun quietly drilling for the 2 million barrels of oil and 2 billion Cu. Ft of natural gas estimated to remain in that field. The rig was placed back in service in 2007 due to the rebound in the price of gas and oil.
The benefits to having this production is obvious to anyone who drives a car, heats their home or cooks with natural gas. However, as much as we rely upon fossil fuels in this country, environmental concerns are legitimate; arguably more so with offshore than onshore rigs due to their potential to quickly pollute huge swaths of habitat, and the difficulty of containment should a spill occur.

2. How long have the oil rigs been here and what is in store for the future of the oil rigs?

Most of the oil rigs in the channel began service in the late 1960's tolate 1970's. They may remain in service as long as the fields they situpon continue to be able to produce oil and gas. The agreement madebetween Chevron and the state of california, which owned Platform Graceuntil 1998 when it was sold to Venoco, Inc. (and still carries theresponsibility for its eventual decommissioning) states that when thefields are no longer producing oil and gas, Chevron must remove theplatform in it's entirety, and return the sea floor to its pre-platformcondition.
While this may have sounded like the best outcome for all concernedwhen the deal was first struck, mother nature had other ideas and overthe ensuing years, made the submerged support structures of theplatform into a marine oaisis in an otherwise barren desert of sand.

3. What kind of habitat has formed underneath the oil rigs?

The channel separating the mainland from the channel islands off thecoast of california are, for the most part fairly barren areas in termsof reef structures to support resident schools of fish, and the fishnurseries required to sustain a population. Much like the inland desertareas of california the channel is mostly large stretches of sand.Marine animals which can make their home in sand, such as tube wormslive there, and many migratory animals such as dolphins and whales passthrough, but not many reef areas or fish nurseries can be found at thebottom of the channel, either because certain areas are too deep, orthere is no protection from predation in the sand.
So what did Mother Nature do with the oil platforms to make thesepreviously uninhabitable areas into oasis's for young and spawningfish? She created a shell mound!

4. What exactly is a shell mount and what will happen to this habitat if the rigs are removed?

A shell mound is a huge pile of mollusk shells. The floating eggs ofmollusks found the legs of Platform Grace and attached themselves toit. They grew quickly in the nutrient rich waters of the channel andlived out their lives on the legs of the platform. When the mollusksdied, their shells fell off the platform and sank to the bottom of thechannel. Over the years, a large shell mound grew and spawning fish ofall types moved in. You see, all those nooks and crannies between theshells make great hiding places for baby fish, and the nutrient richwaters in the channel help the young fish grow big and strong. There isone other reason why the fish get so big and the population of fishremains stable. There is no fishing allowed near the oil platforms!
So you see, Mother Nature turned our need for oil into somethingbeneficial. However, the Oil company working the rig must insure thattheir operation does not pollute the waters around the platform or allthe fish would be killed. So far, judging by the health of the"artificial reef" which has grown under the platform, they are doing agood job. We must keep reminding them that with the benefits to themfrom pumping that oil comes a big responsibility to keep the waterclean.

So, what will happen when the Oil company has to honor its originalagreement and remove the platform and return the sea floor to itsoriginal condition? Sadly, this oasis will be destroyed, and all thefish will have to find a new home. There is another option though. Thewells could be capped so they cannot leak and the legs to the platformcould be left in place, but the rest of the platform, from 40ft belowthe surface (so boats dont hit them) right to the top of the highestcrane would be removed and sent to be recycled.
This is a program called "Rigs to Reef". Those of us who have dived theoil platforms and have seen the abundant life forms who now call theplatform home, hope we can convince others that this program is awin-win situation for man and nature