Ecological Symbiosis in the Southern California Bight

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PLEA 2016 Los Angeles -­ 36 International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture.

Cities, Buildings, People: Towards Regenerative Environments

Ecological Symbiosis in the Southern California Bight A Post Oil Regeneration of Ecology SNEHA SUMANTH1

School of Architecture, University of Waterloo, Cambridge, Canada

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ABSTRACT: This paper studies the offshore fossil fuel infrastructure of the Southern California Bight and its relationship with energy and ecology. Despite the fact that these platforms are controversial symbols of disaster and pollution, their structures have enabled the formation of diverse artificial reefs that provide habitats for species of invertebrates, fish, marine mammals and birds (Callahan and Jackson 2015). The 23 offshore platforms in federal waters have reached the end of their useful production lives and are scheduled to be decommissioned between 2015 and 2030 (Pacific Offshore 2014) which will eradicate all life on the platforms. Looking past the oil identity of the site, this paper conducts an examination of the platforms’ role in the site’s complex natural systems, supporting an argument for future uses such as aquaculture, wastewater treatment and desalination, renewable energy harvesting, and recreation and research centres. The research in this paper sets the stage for a design proposal of ‘ecological symbiosis’ – loops of matter and energy exchange between the site’s natural systems, the platforms’ future uses and the diverse ecology (including humans) on the platforms.

Keywords: Southern California Bight, offshore platforms, regeneration, decommissioning, artificial reefs, renewable energy, research centres, recreation, wastewater management, aquaculture, ecological symbiosis

INTRODUCTION This paper examines the crucial role of the soon to be decommissioned federal offshore platforms in the Southern California Bight’s ecology, making an argument for their continuous use and regeneration. The site under study is a 200-mile stretch of the Southern California Bight’s coastline from Lompoc in Santa Barbara County to Huntington Beach in Orange County (Fig.1). Situated in the ocean along this stretch of coastline are twenty-seven offshore oil platforms with

Figure 1: Site Plan and offshore infrastructure

varying depths and properties; twenty-three are under federal leases and four under state leases (California Marine Resources Legacy Act 2010). The platforms form a production network of oil and natural gas that is transported via pipelines or ships to onshore processing and storage facilities that line the coast, supplying California’s accelerating demand.

Oil has shaped the site’s memory; its origin dates back over two million years to the middle of the Pleistocene epoch, when the sedimentary rock floor of

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PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM PLATFORM IRENE HIDALGO HARVEST HERMOSA HERITAGE HARMONY HONDO C B A HILLHOUSE HENRY HOUCHIN HOGAN HABITAT GRACE GILDA GAIL GINA EDITH ELLY ELLEN EUREKA 290 ft 242 ft 430 ft 675 ft 603 ft 1,075 ft 1,198 ft 842 ft 192 ft 190 ft 188 ft 190 ft 173 ft 163 ft 154 ft 318 ft 205 ft 739 ft 95 ft 161 ft 255 ft 265 ft 700 ft 1981 1985 1986 1985 1985 1989 1989 1976 1977 1968 1968 1969 1979 1968 1967 1979 1981 1987 1980 1983 1980 1980 1984

WELL CONDUCTORS [denoting quantity and depth] OLD to NEW [1967 - 1987]

Figure 2: Platform inventory (age, water depth, well depth and well quantity the Santa Barbara Channel deformed to produce a series of folds that accumulated oil, forming California’s prosperous oil reserves (Steinhart 1972). The first offshore oil well in the world was drilled in Summerland, Santa Barbara County in 1898 (Monitoring Southern California's Coastal Waters 1990).

Over the course of the twentieth century, oil production exploded as private oil companies led exciting days of exploration and development, installing the 23 federal platforms from 1968 to 1989 (Fig.2).

However, this century was also marked with destructive events due to fossil fuel extraction. A key historical event on the site was the 1969 Oil Spill in the Santa Barbara Channel. The spill occurred off of Platform A, a Union Oil Company-owned offshore platform in the Dos Cadres Oil Field (Fig.3). The spill lasted for weeks while retention and clean up efforts tried in vain to quell the spread in varying directions to the will of the wind and weather. The international reaction to this event caused a rush of world-wide awareness that gave birth to the modern environmental

Figure 3: Section through Platform A movement and painted the ugly perception of oil we have today. Over three million gallons of oil were leaked in an 800 square mile radius. 35 miles of shore were contaminated, killing close to 15,000 seabirds and poisoning dolphins, seals and sea lions. Platform A was the third platform to be constructed on the site. In twenty years, twenty platforms would be added to the site to account for many more mistakes, clean up attempts and cover ups. Dangerous events such as this have made the platforms symbolic of anthropogenic destruction, making it difficult to imagine a regenerative future for them. This paper will move past that, revealing the

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platforms’ intricate and vital presence in the site’s natural systems and ecology and making a case for a future, regenerative use of the platforms.

CURRENT CONTEXT Recent and more aggressive drilling activities have added fuel to this fire. In January 2014, California’s Governor Jerry Brown proclaimed a State of Emergency. California is experiencing record dry conditions: surface and groundwater levels have dropped to 20% of the average, placing many California communities at risk for drinking water supplies (Water Conditions: Declaration 2014). Meanwhile, millions of gallons of freshwater are used for hydraulic fracturing operations (an enhanced oil extraction method that injects fluid into the ground at high pressures to fracture shale rock) on and offshore California. In an investigative report by the Environmental Defense Centre in 2014, five offshore platforms in the Bight were confirmed as sites of unregulated offshore fracking, with the high possibility of all other platforms in federal waters also using these methods (Segee and O.Dea 2014).

The probable case of fracking occurring on all offshore platforms presents three major risks for California. First, injection activities during fracking have been linked to tremors and small earthquakes as injection wells intersect faults in the earth (Fig.3).

Second, fracking operations use millions of gallons of freshwater a day, a severe problem considering California’s extreme drought status. Finally, resulting wastewater and brine can seep out through incomplete collection and injection processes, polluting aquifers and groundwater.

Decommissioning and its Alternatives The two-million-year old fossil fuel reserves have been rapidly consumed in a mere 117 years. Today, the 23 platforms in federal waters are scheduled for decommissioning as they have reached the end of their useful oil production lives. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has projected the complete decommissioning of the twenty-three offshore platforms in federal waters for the years 2015 - 2030 (California Marine Resources Legacy Act 2010). The total cost of completely decommissioning the platforms is $1,460,800,165 (Pacific Offshore 2014). The fate of platforms in federal waters is in the hands of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) whose contract requires the lessee to remove the platform within one year of the lease termination.

Rigs-to-Reefs is an alternative to complete decommissioning that aims to preserve the artificial reefs through only partial decommissioning. Under the National Artificial Reef Plan by BSEE, California has

passed specific legislation to implement programs for artificial reefs (Callahan and Jackson 2015). Removal options under Rigs-to-Reefs are as follows: (1) leave the platform unaltered and in place (2) topple the entire structure in location, (3) partial toppling: cut the platform at 85ft, and (4) relocate the platform (Fig. 4) (Macreadie et al. 2011). Of these options, (1) is done without the use of explosives and is the least intrusive to the existing life on the platforms. There are many advocates for Rigs-to-Reefs, especially after the passing of the California Endowment for Marine Preservation Bill in 2013. Adopting Rigs-to-Reefs also has significant economic benefits, saving $658,000,000 - 45% of the total decommissioning cost (Table 1)(Callahan and Jackson 2015).

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

85 ft

Figure 4: Alternatives to Decommissioning

Depth (ft) 100-225 225-450 450-850 850-1,200 Total

# of Platforms 10 6 5 2 23

Cost Savings per Platform $6.4 M $14 M $54 M $120 M

Total Cost Savings $64 M $84 M $270 M $240 M $658 M

Stakeholders The offshore platforms’ future is currently being questioned by a variety of stakeholders such as state and federal governments, regulatory organizations like the MMS and BSEE, oil companies, environmental groups, recreational and institutional fisheries, the public that inhabit the coast, and independent researchers with varied interests in the site (Callahan and Jackson 2015).

All these stakeholders bring a range of opinions to the future of the site, but not all of them play a role in the decision making. For this reason, advocates against decommissioning have been gaining presence in the media, in efforts to raise awareness of the artificial reefs and engage the public with the decision at hand. In such a case of multiple stakeholders with varying interests, the problem at hand is often framed in different ways as each interested party approaches the situation from their unique standpoint. While this paper will continue to make a case for the continuing use and regeneration of the platforms, it also aggregates information and research by many stakeholders to portray the larger picture, providing a clear and complete narration.

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Blue Latitudes One such stakeholder is Blue Latitudes, an interdisciplinary team that navigates science, policy and economics to provide solutions to offshore decommissioning that are sustainable and cost-effective.

Blue Latitudes’ research, resources and contacts have greatly benefited this paper and the research it supports.

Through their efforts, they have gathered a wealth of knowledge and expertise on the subject. Their work has spread internationally, from projects on this site all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and Europe. Sharing their work through their network and on the media, they have successfully raised awareness of the vast ecologies present on offshore platforms.

relationships between the physical composition of the site, its energy, and its ecology as a basis to speculate about future design options.

Design Intent The research of which this paper is a part intends to design the platforms’ recommissioning of alternate use; assessing the potential of future uses (such as aquaculture, wastewater treatment, renewable energy, recreation and research). Aiming for a state of ‘ecological symbiosis’, the design will bring together systems of production and the ecological inhabitation of the site in such a way that the two can maintain synergy and cohabitation. In this way, the design will explore relationships that ensue through the proximity and interaction of the site’s infrastructure and ecology. This paper studies the site’s infrastructure, outlining potential future uses and benefits of keeping the platforms in place. Through this lens, the impact of human facilitated development on the site can be studied past the controversial image of pollution and disaster to discover its crucial roles as habitats to the site’s diverse ecology.

This perspective considers the site as a web of Figure 5:

Bathymetry The Southern California Bight’s ocean bed has complex topographies, marked by submarine canyons, basins and steep shelves. The bathymetry of the site brings deep waters fairly close to shore and creates zones of sediment and nutrient accumulation that grow into rich ecosystems. The complex bathymetry of the site offers a variety of habitats for marine organisms on the ocean bed and along the water column. Through wind and water movement, these ecosystems form a connected web: life affected in one zone directly affects that in other zones – a crucial factor in understanding the workings of the site. Due to this interconnectedness, any anthropogenic actions can reverberate through the entire site and beyond.

Bathymetry, prevailing winds, and eddies

THE PLATFORMS’ ROLE IN SITE CONDITIONS In order to propose a regenerative future that keeps the platforms either fully or partially in place, the impact of the platforms’ presence needs to be examined.

This research discusses the platforms’ integration into the site’s natural systems (physical composition, wind and water movement) and explains how artificial reefs are formed, proving the vitality of the platforms to the site’s ecology.

Prevailing Winds and Eddies As the sun heats the air at the south of the site, lower pressures are created, causing prevailing winds to travel

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south. This forms the California Current that moves along the edge of the continental shelf. As the California Current travels past the eastward indentation of coast at Point Conception, a surface counterclockwise gyre - the Southern California Eddy or the Catalina Eddy - breaks off and carries water north through the center of the bight forming the Southern California Current.

Meanwhile, the onshore prevailing northwesterly winds provoke a dominant southwesterly current flow near shore. In this manner, the prevailing currents move water in opposing directions parallel to the coast forming various regional eddies (Fig. 5). These wind and water currents reach their peak in summer months (Dailey 1993). Along with these seasonal influences, the site is subject to temperature fluctuations by long term events such as El Nino and La Nina (occurring few times a decade), the former raising water temperatures and the latter lowering them. Circulation and temperature fluctuation in water greatly affect the inhabitation of various species (SCCWRP 1972).

shell mounds with surrounding substances (such as rock cuttings, deposits from drilling operations, etc.) growing up to 23ft above the sea floor and spreading to a 2.3 mile square area around the platform (Wolfson and Parr 1975). Complete decommissioning can risk eradicating these habitats entirely, killing the thousands of organisms that call these platforms home.

The varying depths of the platforms allow for a great range of species. The species that inhabit the platforms range from epifauna (mussels and crabs), benthic fauna (crustaceans and anemones), mollusks (oysters and scallops), mesopelagic fish (treefish and lingcod), epipelagic fish (anchovies, sardines, mackerel, bass, croakers, flatfishes, rockfishes), marine and amphibious mammals (dolphins, seals and sea lions) to human beings (Murray et al. 1993). The ecological composition of each platform will vary due to their differences in depth, water composition, temperature, geographical location, etc. (Fig.6)

Local Upwelling The prevailing winds along the coast drive waters away from shore, a phenomenon called ‘ekman transport’ which is the net motion of water from the difference in directionality between wind orientation and the earth’s rotation. These waters move nutrients with them, along with plankton and larvae accumulated in kelp beds along the shore (Song et al. 2011). As water moves away from shore, a phenomenon called ‘ekman pumping’ occurs through the water column where deeper waters move upward to replace the shifted surface waters in continuous movements of convection, creating regions of local upwelling. The deeper waters are colder with higher nutrient concentrations and this vertical circulation moves nutrients to the surface. These two sets of circulations – horizontally and vertically continuously distribute nutrients, plankton and larvae offshore, enriching ecosystems.

Offshore Platforms to Artificial Reefs As eddy movements and regional upwelling bring nutrients, plankton and larvae offshore, they accumulate on the submerged structures of the offshore platforms.

The platforms act as breakwaters and enable the formation of incredible artificial reefs that support thousands of species. The vertical nature of the structure and the horizontal orientation of beams and crossbeams allow for a variety of resting points and habitation in the water column facilitating shelter, food cycles and nests.

On these surfaces a substantial amount of invertebrates (such as mussels, barnacles and scallops) attach, forming a layer of life up to 1.5ft thick, extending from the intertidal point to depths past a 100 ft (Schroeder and Love 2004). At times, these organisms over accumulate, die or are displaced by storms and sudden movement.

This causes them to rain onto the ocean floor, forming

Figure 6: Depths of inhabitation on Platform Eureka

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FUTURE OF THE PLATFORMS Offshore Platform Structure The physical structure of the platforms outlive their useful production lives and can last for a significantly longer period of time with adequate maintenance. Due to the added skin of life that cover the platforms, the steel of the substructure is sealed off from oxygen, causing regular corrosion to occur at a much slower rate.

It has been estimated that the platforms can stand for another two to three hundred years (Hahn and LayneFarra 2003). A conventional fixed platform consists of a jacket (underwater) and deck (above water). The jacket is typically a metal lattice structure, comprised of columns, beams and crossbeams with four or more piles driven into the ocean bed. The average platform provides between 2 to 3 acres of habitat surface area for species, and can be entirely covered in life within a year of installation. The jacket’s structure provides spatial variations for habitat amongst its structural elements, similar to submerging a tall building’s structural grid.

Future Uses The following use proposals take from established precedents and research to investigate multiple future uses for the platforms. They all propose either no decommissioning or partial decommissioning and assume the continuing function of the platforms as artificial reefs. The applicability of these uses will depend on factors such as accessibility, water depth, local environmental conditions, economics, etc. Their benefits and drawbacks are considered.

Aquaculture Aquaculture is the harvesting of aquatic organisms (mostly fish) and is being used to provide almost half the world’s seafood, for which demand is growing (Minerals Management Service 2007). The opportunity to expand and move aquaculture offshore has been widely discussed. This opportunity can be aided by offshore platforms, as they can be redesigned to serve as hubs, storage facilities and mooring points. The benefits include open space and large quantities of good quality water, decreased reliance on foreign imports, no impediments on public access to coastal waters and near shore activities, and usability of the already existing infrastructure. The drawbacks are similar to those onshore, including pollution and adverse effects on surrounding water quality, diseases in wild populations and the vulnerability of offshore locations to events such as tsunamis and hurricanes. However, with good design and management, these drawbacks can be made negligible. While there are currently no built precedents that completely integrate used offshore platforms into offshore aquaculture, countless design proposals and pilot projects have taken place.

Wastewater Treatment and Desalination Desalination is the process of removing salts and minerals from seawater to produce freshwater that can be consumed by humans and used for other activities.

Offshore desalination supported by renewable energies such as wave energy has been proposed as a successful alternative to on land desalination plants (Serna and Tadeo 2013). The offshore platforms can play a role as existing infrastructure to support and contain desalination facilities. A similar idea can be applied to wastewater management.

Norwegian company EnviroNor is developing oil and gas tanker mobile wastewater treatment units. Benefitting from the flexibility of a moving floating unit and the reusability of existing tanks and equipment, this method is viable and convenient for the transportation of wastewater and potable water (Williams 2016). The platforms could be incorporated into this moving system, housing desalination and wastewater plants, a much needed industry to aid California’s drought. The benefits include easily accessible and large amounts of seawater, the ability to synergize with offshore renewable energy sources and an already existing infrastructure. However, large scale desalination is cost and energy intensive and requires excellent planning and resources. Similar to aquaculture, good design and management will ensure the success of this proposal.

Offshore Renewable Energy Offshore renewable energy development is gaining speed and advancement today, especially in wave, tidal and wind energy systems. Offshore platforms can play a key role in these systems, acting as hubs and electrical connection points. They can play this role by being Electric Service Platforms (ESPs), which are usually placed among individual energy generating modules to collect, merge and transport the electricity (Minerals Management Service 2007). They can also serve as anchor points for individual modules and house facilities for workers and associated research and maintenance.

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Geothermal Energy: California’s unique geology contains a vast potential of geothermal energy. Onshore geothermal plants are being encouraged as California moves forward in its Climate Change Action Plan.

Research from Reykjavik University has conceptualized platform-based power plants where steam goes through a pipeline from the seabed to the platform (Karason et al. 2013). While harnessing California’s offshore geothermal energy has great potential, there is no strong economic need as onshore sources are yet to be fully utilized.

2.

Wave and Tidal Energy: The platforms can serve as mooring points for various wave energy devices (point absorbers, attenuators and terminators) and tidal energy devices (horizontal and vertical axis turbines) (MacDonald 2012). Each of these systems have varying

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depth requirements and operating costs. As mentioned earlier, wave energy systems can be integrated with processes such as desalination, with the platforms becoming their point of connection.

3.

Wind Energy: Wind energy is perhaps the most common offshore energy system in place today.

Offshore platforms can either serve as the ESP for individual wind turbine generators (WTGs) or can become one themselves, with the WTG being anchored onto the platform’s jacket. Platforms Hidalgo, Harvest and Hermosa in the Pt. Arguello Unit off the coast of Santa Barbara lie in high wind speed zones of 17.9mph to 19.0mph and serve as a case study for harnessing offshore wind energy (Fig.7). Taking precedent from SeaEnergy Renewables, a company that is testing crossbreeds of wind turbines on oil platforms in Scotland’s offshore waters (Kanellos 2009), platform Hidalgo is speculated as a wind platform (Fig.8).

study the site while being in the site, as opposed to probing from the distant shore. It also introduces the very new, but slowly increasing discourse around seasteading, allowing us to question a future of ocean inhabitation.

Recreation and Research Facilities Used offshore platforms are popular sites for recreational divers. Few have already been converted into dive centers, such as the Seaventures Dive Rig by Mabul, Malaysia (Gadd 2015). Quite a few of the offshore platforms on this site have attracted recreational divers, who are drawn by the beautiful artificial reefs.

While this proposal does not entail a usable production, it begins to engage human interaction and inhabitation, a key for the regeneration of the site.

Taking the level of engagement further is a proposal for research centers on the platforms.

Organizations such as Blue Latitudes have studied the artificial reefs through diving in order to advocate for Rigs-to-Reefs (Callahan and Jackson 2016). Along with marine biology, the site holds interest for a variety of professions and industries including hydrology, climate change study, coastal and ocean mapping, ocean surveying, geology, and offshore construction. Offshore research centers can bring together various learning interests to a common site, engaging transdisciplinary research and making way for the design of some of the previous proposals. Building these centers allows us to

Figure 7: Offshore wind speeds at 90m elev.

Figure 8: Section through wind platform Hidalgo

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CONCLUSION The platforms are now fully incorporated into the web of life in the Southern California Bight.

Decommissioning will propagate destruction across regions and habitats affecting the entire site. It is clear that recommissioning the platforms has economic benefits and is in itself a convincing argument to keep the platforms. However, the real question is how the platforms’ future can be considered with care and awareness and how design can be a proactive step instead of a reactive step, ultimately placing the value of life at on a higher pedestal. As this research moves forward to propose design options for the future use of the site, the value of life is made a priority and incorporated into the process of designing symbiotically.

Life is seen with a horizontal ontology to establish a level ground of equality for all organisms, displacing humans from the top and challenging anthropocentric methods of industrial use and production. Through rigorous research and design, the offshore platforms can be regenerated and improve California’s future.

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