[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 28, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              REMEMBERING THE 1969 SANTA BARBARA OIL SPILL

  (Mrs. CAPPS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, 40 years ago today, on January 28, 1969, a 
``blowout'' erupted below Union Oil's Platform A 6 miles off the Santa 
Barbara coast. Before it was capped, more than 3 million gallons of oil 
spewed into the sea.
  For weeks national attention was focused on the spill's disturbing, 
dramatic images: oil-soaked birds, unable to fly, slowly dying on the 
sand; 35 miles of sandy beaches coated with thick sludge; over 800 
square miles of ocean covered with an oily black sheen.
  I lived in Santa Barbara in 1969. I recall how our community came 
together to save wildlife and clean up our beaches. But the spill's 
impact went far beyond the ecological and economic damage to our 
community.
  The disaster was considered to be a major factor in the birth of the 
modern-day environmental movement. There followed a wave of national 
environmental legislation, including the Clean Air and Water Acts, and 
laws to protect coastal areas and endangered species.
  Now, after 40 years, as we still face the responsibility to protect 
and preserve our environment, we must never forget this important 
moment in our Nation's history and commit ourselves to speeding the 
transition to a clean energy economy.

                          ____________________