Editing Summerland, California (section)

==History==
Tar from natural [[oil seep]]s in the Summerland area was used for sealing their ocean-going [[tomol]]s by the [[Chumash people|Chumash]] people and for the [[Mission Santa Barbara]] as waterproofing for the roof.

In 1883, [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualist]] and real estate speculator H.L. Williams founded the town of Summerland.  In 1888 he divided his land tract, on a moderately sloping hill facing the ocean, into numerous parcels.  He promoted the tiny lots – 25 x 60 – to fellow Spiritualists, who bought them in quantity and moved to the area.   The spiritual center of the town was a Spiritualist Church, with [[séance]] room, demolished when Highway 101 was put through in the 1950s.<ref>Baker, p. 62-63</ref>

[[Image:Oil wells just offshore at Summerland, California, c.1915.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Oil wells just off the coast, before 1906]]
[[File:SummerlandOilFieldToday1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The same view in 2009]]

In the 1890s, oil development began in the coastal area of Summerland, at the [[Summerland Oil Field]].  Numerous wooden oil derricks were built on the beach, and on piers stretching into the ocean.  The world's first offshore oil well, drilled into the sea floor, was at this location.  Production at this beach area peaked before 1910, although most of the rigs remained into the 1920s.<ref>Rintoul, pp. 13-15</ref>  Peak production from the onshore portion of the Summerland Field did not  occur until 1930; the last oil was pumped from the nearshore region in 1940.<ref>California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, p. 681</ref>

In 1957, Standard Oil Co. of California (now [[Chevron Corp.|Chevron]]) found the large [[Summerland Offshore Oil Field]], several miles offshore, which was shut down in the 1990s.<ref>California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, p. 679</ref> In January 1969, a blowout at the [[Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field|Dos Cuadras Field]], about five miles offshore, caused the [[1969 Santa Barbara oil spill|Santa Barbara Oil Spill]], a formative event for the modern environmental movement.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1999-01-28|title=Legacy of an Offshore Disaster|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jan-28-mn-2543-story.html|access-date=2021-09-04|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US |first=Gary |last=Polakovic }}</ref>

In August 2015, Summerland's beach was closed for several days by County of Santa Barbara health officials due to large amounts of oil washed onshore.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-summerland-beach-oil-spill-20150821-story.html|title = Santa Barbara County Health officials close (Another) oil-covered beach|website = [[Los Angeles Times]]|date = 22 August 2015}}</ref> Local residents suspect the petroleum source is a leaking capped oil well ("the Becker wellhead") in the tidal area below Lookout Park.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.noozhawk.com/article/summerland_beach_oil_leaks_20150905|title = Group Steps in to Try to Cap off at Least One Persistent Summerland Beach Oil Leak| date=5 September 2015 }}</ref>