Panel OKs ‘Rig-to-Reef’ Bill to Convert Oil Towers

A bill that could allow oil companies to leave retired oil rigs deep beneath the ocean’s surface to be used as artificial reefs won approval Tuesday from a legislative committee.

Supporters of the “rig-to-reef” conversions say the steel towers that support the oil platforms should be left behind even after the rig is no longer in use because they serve as home to a vast array of aquatic life. State and federal laws now call for out-of-service rigs to be entirely removed, with the wells capped and the sea floor restored.

The Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee approved legislation by Sen. Dede Alpert (D-Coronado) that would allow the evaluation of each decommissioned oil rig as an artificial reef, leaving up to state and federal agencies whether to grant oil companies permission to leave the towers in place.

At the heart of Alpert’s proposal is the establishment of a marine research fund, into which oil companies would be required to deposit a portion--perhaps 50% or more--of the estimated hundreds of millions of dollars they would save by not having to remove the rigs.

Critics say that the legislation is premature and they worry that it would create too great an incentive to allow the rigs to be left in the ocean. The proposal, approved on a 5-0 vote, now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.