Sable Offshore, the oil company trying to renew the pipeline that ruptured in the Refugio oil spill nearly a decade ago, has taken another legal hit following this year’s litigation with Santa Barbara County and the Department of Fish and Wildlife California Wilderness, this time by Zaca Preserve, LLC, a 138-acre undeveloped tract of land north of Buellton. Reservation representatives sued Sable on Oct. 3 over claims that Sable’s “secret and unsupported plans” to repair and restart the pipeline, which runs along the Gaviota coast and into Kern County through of Zaca’s property, violate the terms of an established easement agreement. between the two parties. Zaca is asking for a new easement and financial compensation for the loss of property value caused by the “extremely negative stigma” of the pipeline.

Meeting the plaintiff’s demands would go against a $70 million class action settlement between Sable and different property owners along the pipeline, which resulted in new easements and financial compensation for them in May. In those easements it was agreed that Sable would not build a new pipeline, but would repair the old one. Zaca wants the opposite.

“To prevent further damage to Zaca, Sable needs to negotiate a new Zaca easement and build a new pipeline on Zaca’s property… or abandon the pipeline and remove it entirely from Zaca’s property, and reroute the pipeline through other properties in the area,” the lawsuit reads.

Zaca Preserve did not join the class action because “the compensation provided … is not even remotely adequate to satisfy Zaca’s losses,” according to the lawsuit. The current lawsuit estimates the value of Zaca Preserve at more than $40 million and claims that some of the seven 20-acre lots will be “virtually unsaleable” after revealing the pipeline’s history to potential buyers. The only other option, the lawsuit says, is for Sable to acquire the Zaca property at that market price.

Representatives for Sable did not respond to requests for comment. Todd Amspoker, the attorney representing Zaca Preserve at the Santa Barbara law firm Price, Postel & Parma LLP, declined to comment on the case.

A case management conference is scheduled for January 31, 2025 in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.