Last month I had the privilege to dive platform Edith for the first time in 17 years. I had been fortunate to have been one of the very first divers to dive the platform long ago. Underwater, she has since become a thing of great beauty.

In the spring of 1983, then as young commercial deep-sea diver, I was called to California for a job. Although California has always been "home," I was living in Houston at the time as most of my work was in the Gulf of Mexico.

Platform "Edith" slipped off the barge onto the ocean floor just three days before I arrived 12 miles off the Southern California coastline. My job was to inspect the welds for stress cracks from the installation, using non-destructive processes for which I was specially trained. The platform was designed to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake. Edith passed with flying colors.

I was glad to be coming home to California. My father had been diagnosed with brain cancer a couple years earlier and was in the final stages. Although I would be working offshore, it would be good to be close by.

Diving the new Edith the first thing that struck me was that although the rig had only been in the water three days, life was already beginning to cling to the hard surfaces. Tiny sprigs of algae formed on the bare metal and here and there were small shrimp. It had begun. Nature had begun the process of decoration.

Now 17 years later I returned to the same steel members I had inspected years before. Although I had absolutely nothing to do with it, I felt proud. It was as if I was present at the birth, only checking the health of a skeleton. Now I was gazing on a creature of great beauty. Mother nature had taken man's bare steel and in a riot of life and color decorated the members with a multitude of animals.

Seventeen years ago my time on that inspection job was cut short as my father died that week and I was called ashore. My father, also a diver and a lover of nature would have appreciated this underwater place.

Remembering that time long ago and enjoying the beauty now before me, my mask filled with tears.

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Many oil platforms along the California coast have outlived their usefulness and due for decommission over the next several years. Having been in the water for many years, the rigs have become prolific artificial reefs with huge biomass attached and abundant fish surrounding. Rather than just having the rigs removed, a bill before the State Senate (SB241) is currently seeking to keep the artificial reef portion of the rigs in place. Each rig would be reviewed on a case by case basis. A large portion of the money saved by the oil companies by not having to remove the rigs would be directed to a marine sciences study endowment fund. Without a doubt this is a "Win/Win" situation. But the bill needs your support to pass. Also, details are still open for debate. How deep should the rigs be cut off? 40, 60 or 100 feet down? Or, as some have suggested, leaving the platforms showing above the waterline? Should the artificial reefs be preserves or not? Maybe some should be designated that way and others not. This is only going to happen, and happen the way you think it would best serve divers, if you put in your two-cents worth. Contact your state senator now and make your feelings known.