In the wake of the Plains All American Pipeline 100,000 gallon spill on May 19, California State Lands Commission regulators are considering a Venoco proposal to allow oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara with the same impaired conduit, which would triple current oil yields according to The Guardian.

Because of California’s recent law prohibiting new offshore drilling leases, Venoco is bartering by offering to concede its land to the state in exchange for permissions to re-tap existing inactive oil wells within ecologically sensitive areas of the ocean, which are part of the California Coastal Sanctuary.

Venneco projects that $200 million in property taxes would be injected into the economy and numerous jobs created.

But activists argue that triple the oil is triple the threat, especially with a flawed pipeline. Protesters donned in hazmat suits with an inflatable mock pipeline swarmed outside the hearing on Wednesday.

Kristen Monsell, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity said, “We’re already suffering from the worst spill in decades. Imagine if that spill had been three times the size.”

State senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, who will hold a hearing on the Plains Pipeline spill on Friday, was equally dismissive.

“The public obviously is not very happy about it and the timing is very problematic,” she said. “I’m concerned about expanding oil drilling, period, but I’m especially concerned about expanding it before we have answers to the questions about how to make sure this never happens again.”

Concurrently, state regulators are investing the hazards of the spill, which has left lingering effects on the local ecology. State senators convened on Friday to conclude why the pipeline initially ripped.

Two weeks before the incident, a test was conducted and determined that 50% of the pipe’s metal casing had eroded; yet, after the spill, regulators discovered that 80% of it was corroded at the spill’s point of rupture.

Additionally, Federal and State authorities are investigating the company’s delayed response.

“There’s a gap of 2.5 to 3.5 hours, depending on who you talk to,” state senator Jackson said. “The quicker you can contain something, the quicker you can contain the damage. We’re going to do what we can to inquire about that.”

While state attorney general Kamala Harris didn’t disclose many details about the investigation, her office announced that it would scrutinize and determine whether criminal charges are applicable.

California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein with Massachusetts senator Edward J. Markey, all Democrats, appealed to the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration inquiring into the delay.

But activists conceded that any wins in court wouldn’t solve the problem.

Becca Claassen, an activist with Food and Water Watch, said, “We’re not okay with expanding oil operations off our coast. We see the land swap as representing an increase and expansion in offshore drilling at the same time we’re trying to transition away from offshore drilling.”

Activists are using the debacle to push their agenda to eliminate offshore drilling in California indefinitely.