04/09/2026
This photo was taken in 2008, yet on January 28, 1969, Union Oil’s Platform A blew out six miles off the Santa Barbara coast, releasing an estimated three million gallons of crude oil into the Pacific — at the time, the largest spill in U.S. waters. The disaster killed thousands of seabirds, dolphins, elephant seals, and sea lions, and fouled 35 miles of coastline. Though the well was capped, the ecosystem took several decades to recover — and oil in the water remains toxic to wildlife, causing reproductive problems, genetic abnormalities, and contamination throughout the food chain. The spill’s legacy, however, also sparked a movement: it directly inspired the first Earth Day in 1970 and the creation of the EPA, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Today, those hard-won protections are under serious threat — a proposed 65% cut to the EPA’s budget and a 2025 proposal to eliminate Clean Water Act protections for most streams and more than 80% of wetlands nationwide risk unraveling more than 50 years of environmental progress.
🌿 This piece is part of the Down to Earth exhibit at the Downtown Artists Co-op, 96 Franklin Street, Clarksville. Come see it in person! .gallery
