The Central Coast of California is going to se a rapid increase in the price of gas and oil products and a major loss of well paying jobs.
“After hours of testimony both opposing and supporting ExxonMobil’s request to truck oil to facilities in Santa Maria and Kern County, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission voted on Wednesday to recommend denial of the project.
The topic filled the commissioners’ day as more than 100 people commented before the panel’s deliberations ended with a 3-2 vote to direct staff to prepare and return with findings of denial.
This is a major attack on the middle class. Those folks will be forced to leave the area and move to a Free State, if they want to economically survive.
Planning Commissioners Recommend Denial of ExxonMobil Oil Trucking Project
Daylong hearing includes dozens of speakers on the proposal for delivering crude to Santa Maria and Kern County sites
By Janene Scully, Noozhawk , 9/29/21
After hours of testimony both opposing and supporting ExxonMobil’s request to truck oil to facilities in Santa Maria and Kern County, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission voted on Wednesday to recommend denial of the project.
The topic filled the commissioners’ day as more than 100 people commented before the panel’s deliberations ended with a 3-2 vote to direct staff to prepare and return with findings of denial.
Commissioners John Parke, C. Michael Cooney and Laura Bridley opposed the trucking plan and supported the denial recommendation. Chairman Larry Ferini and Commissioner Dan Blough favored the trucking proposal.
“On the basis of safety, on the basis of the class one impact to the environment should there be an accident, I’m going to oppose the project, ” said Cooney, who represents the First District, which includes the Cuyama Valley.
ExxonMobil has proposed a phased restart of the Santa Ynez Unit — offshore platforms of Hondo, Harmony and Heritage — by first trucking produced crude oil from the Las Flores Canyon facility.
Those platforms have been shut down since the 2015 Refugio oil spill, which was caused by a rupture in the Plains All American transportation pipeline that transports oil from the Santa Barbara County South Coast to refineries.
ExxonMobil proposed trucking oil either to the Santa Maria Pump Station for eventual delivery to the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery in southern San Luis Obispo County or the Pentland Terminal in Kern County.
“In summary, the county can and should approve the interim trucking project given ExxonMobil’s vested right to operate, which would be impaired if the trucking project as currently proposed by staff is rejected,” said Sherry Scott, ExxonMobil’s attorney.
She contended that the project met the required conditions and that the modified proposal to only truck oil to Santa Maria and avoid rainy day travel would mitigate any potential environmental impacts.
Oil would be delivered to the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Pump Station on Battles Road, off Rosemary Road east of Highway 101, or to Kern County via Highway 166.
Trucking would occur for up to seven years and could be followed by a pipeline replacement proposal, which would be considered as a separate project in the future.
A steady stream of people spoke against the proposal on Wednesday.
“We urge the Planning Commission to recommend denial of ExxonMobil’s proposal because it will exacerbate climate change, threaten our coast with another oil spill and put our communities, watersheds and environment in harm’s way,” said Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Environmental Defense Center, adding that she also was speaking behalf of Get Oil Out and the Santa Barbara County Action Network.
Jonathan Ullman from the Sierra Club’s Los Padres Chapter said the proposal would involve 24,800 tanker trucks per year.
“This is one of the largest, most egregious proposals that has ever been offered in Santa Barbara County, and it’s basically being watched not just by California and by the locals here but by the world,” Ullman said. “This poses a risk to the public.”
He noted that the route includes narrow, curvy and steep roads along with passing by public campgrounds, sensitive land and waterways.
“This is the most dangerous plan ever, and I urge you to say no,” Ullman said.
Cuyama Valley residents expressed concern about traffic on the two-lane Highway 166 with limited passing lanes, sharing about narrow misses because of impatient drivers already frustrated at slow-moving trucks.
“We just really cannot afford to have any more traffic on this road,” Cuyama Valley resident Allison Mann said. “Please consider us when you’re making your decision.”
Other speakers noted the tax revenues that the oil project would generate for schools, public safety and other government uses.
“We support the approval of the interim trucking permit as it will support our local economy and be an important step toward COVID-19 recovery,” said Glenn Morris, president of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce. “This project balances economics and jobs with safety, and if adopted will be subject to the highest safety standards including regulations related specifically to the trucks on the road.”
Ben Oakley from the Western States Petroleum Association also urged the panel to forward a recommendation for approval.
“The project will bring hundreds of high-paying jobs back into our community, providing career opportunities for local workers across the entire educational spectrum,” Oakley said.
In noting his support for the trucking plan, Blough, who represents the Fifth District on the commission, said he believed the tax revenues and jobs would be an appropriate overriding consideration for the panel to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve the project. He and Ferini, who represents Orcutt and Lompoc, were in the minority.
The Second District’s commissioner, Bridley, said she viewed the proposal as similar to a development plan, and noted the condition, stating, “If it’s going to be detrimental to the comfort, convenience, general welfare, health and safety of our neighborhood, then it may be considered incompatible.”
Among many areas of concern, Parke, Third District commissioner, cited Highway 166 traffic, adding that he had personal experience with the road, and “it’s pretty darn scary.”
He also deemed the environmental analysis inadequate since the project would require restarting the steam generator at Las Flores Canyon, increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
The commission’s findings — set to be prepped by staff and formally approved by the panel on Nov. 3 — ultimately will serve as a recommendation for future consideration by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.
The board’s action could be appealed to the California Coastal Commission, staff said.
