Contempt Delayed, Not Defeated: Sable Escapes One Courtroom, Faces a Wider War
Just days before a California judge was expected to decide whether Sable Offshore Corp. should be held in contempt of court, the company found a way out of the room.
On May 18, Sable and the U.S. Department of Justice moved the case to federal court, canceling a May 22 contempt hearing in Santa Barbara Superior Court that could have determined whether the company defied state court orders.
The dispute centers on a pipeline that, if something goes wrong, runs directly toward one of California’s most sensitive coastal ecosystems.
The pipeline runs through the Gaviota Coast, a narrow stretch of shoreline and marine habitat where oil infrastructure and open ocean sit in close proximity. It is the same coastal corridor scarred by the 2015 Refugio oil spill, when crude oil spread across beaches and into the Pacific, forcing one of the most expensive coastal cleanups in California history. For regulators and environmental groups, the concern driving this case is not a theoretical jurisdictional debate but whether a single failure could once again push oil directly into sensitive coastal waters.
The move did not prove Sable was right.
It merely ensured the company would not have to answer the question in Judge Donna Geck’s courtroom.
For months, Sable has insisted that Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s Defense Production Act order required the company to restart oil transportation through the Santa Ynez Unit pipeline system. California regulators, environmental groups, tribal leaders, and local governments have argued the opposite: that federal executive power does not erase state law, environmental protections, or court orders.
Judge Geck appeared to agree.
In April, Geck rejected Sable’s attempt to dissolve a preliminary injunction and concluded that the federal order did not excuse compliance with California requirements. According to the court’s ruling, the Defense Production Act directive “does not by itself permit violation of other federal law” or state-level legal obligations.
More significantly, Geck concluded the company remained subject to the injunction despite having restarted operations.
That finding set the stage for a contempt proceeding.
Then the case disappeared into federal court.
Critics immediately viewed the timing as more than coincidence.
After all, companies confident in their legal position generally welcome opportunities to defend it. Companies facing potential sanctions often look for procedural exits.
Sable found one.
The company and its federal allies continue to argue that interstate energy infrastructure and national security concerns place the dispute squarely under federal jurisdiction. California and environmental advocates argue the removal is simply the latest attempt to bypass state oversight after years of regulatory conflict surrounding infrastructure linked to the 2015 Refugio oil spill.
This is the first time a court has recognized that the Defense Production Act order does not relieve Sable of its requirements under state law.
— Talia Nimmer, Center for Biological Diversity attorney
Environmental Defense Center Chief Counsel Linda Krop said the ruling made one thing clear: California’s injunction still stands.
The most important thing is the judge denied Sable’s request … the injunction is still in place, adding, She flat out said, ‘You still have to comply.
— Linda Krop, Chief Counsel, Environmental Defense Center
A Federal Court Win—But Not a Resolution
The move to federal court quickly produced results for Sable.
On May 28, a federal judge denied California’s request for an injunction that would have halted oil transportation through the disputed pipeline system while litigation proceeds. The ruling represented an early procedural victory for the company and a setback for state regulators hoping to stop operations immediately.
But the decision resolved little.
The court did not decide whether California’s environmental laws can ultimately be bypassed. Nor did it erase the legal questions surrounding the company’s reliance on the Defense Production Act order.
Instead, it confirmed that the dispute has entered a far larger arena.
Far from ending the controversy, the federal transfer has transformed a local courtroom fight into a statewide and increasingly national political confrontation.
Congress Joins the Fray
The legal battle has now spilled into Washington.
In late May, Representative Salud Carbajal and Senator Adam Schiff joined other members of California’s congressional delegation in launching an investigation into Sable’s restart efforts and the Trump administration’s use of emergency powers to justify them.
Lawmakers are seeking records and communications related to the Defense Production Act order, including interactions between federal agencies and Sable executives.
The inquiry signals growing concern among California Democrats that the pipeline restart may become a precedent for future efforts to sidestep state environmental authority through federal executive action.
The question facing Congress is similar to the one California courts have been wrestling with for months: where does federal power end and state authority begin?
California Opens a New Front
That message appears increasingly relevant as California regulators open a new enforcement front.
While the contempt proceeding disappeared into federal court, the California Coastal Commission is moving forward with its offensive.
On June 9, Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge initiated formal proceedings for a cease-and-desist order against Sable for alleged violations of the California Coastal Act. The proposed action could ultimately force a shutdown of pipeline operations if regulators determine the violations remain unresolved.
Jurisdiction over restart activities is entirely outside of the Commission’s jurisdiction and is separately regulated by other agencies.— Sable Offshore Corp.
Unlike the courtroom battle, this proceeding cannot simply be dismissed by a filing.
And the commission is making clear that delay carries a price.
As long as the violation persists, Sable’s exposure to the potential for the assessment of penalties for the Coastal Act violations continues to accrue.
— Kate Huckelbridge, Executive Director, California Coastal Commission
Translation: the clock is still ticking.
If the contempt hearing represented one threat to Sable’s operations, the Coastal Commission may represent another—and potentially more durable—one.
A federal court can decide jurisdictional questions.
It cannot make Coastal Act violations disappear.
Newsom Sees a Test of California’s Authority
The federal transfer also lands amid escalating criticism from Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, who have cast the pipeline dispute as a test of California’s ability to enforce its own environmental laws against a federal government determined to prioritize fossil fuel production.
Earlier this spring, Newsom accused the Trump administration and Sable of attempting to sidestep California’s legal authority and said:
Trump and his Big Oil donors are not above the law. — Governor Gavin Newsom
For Sacramento, the issue is no longer merely a dispute about a pipeline.
It is a dispute about whether federal officials can compel industrial activity in California while bypassing the state’s regulatory framework.
The War Gets Bigger
Whether federal judges ultimately agree remains to be seen.
What is already clear is that Sable’s courtroom maneuver did not end the conflict.
It expanded it.
The company now faces federal litigation, a growing Coastal Commission enforcement action, ongoing challenges from environmental organizations, scrutiny from elected officials, a congressional investigation, and mounting questions about whether a pipeline system tied to one of California’s most notorious oil spills should have been restarted in the first place.
Sable escaped Judge Geck’s courtroom.
It did not escape California.
For Sable, the contempt hearing may be gone.
The contempt allegations are not.
And California regulators appear determined to make sure nobody mistakes delay for vindication.
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