January 28, 2021
Dear Friend,
In January, 2019, Get Oil Out! (GOO!) celebrated the 50th anniversary of the infamous January 28, 1969 Oil Spill, and our birth, at the Arlington Theatre before a crowd of more than 1800. The 1969 Oil Spill resulted in the release of 3-4 million gallons of crude oil into the Santa Barbara Channel killing birds, marine mammals and other intertidal organisms. In 2020, we found ourselves in the middle of a pandemic which still persists in 2021. COVID-19 has slowed the pace of many of the key projects on which GOO! has been working, but it hasn’t stopped them. As a result, GOO!’s efforts to eliminate offshore oil development, existing or proposed, from the Channel haven’t stopped either.
Meanwhile, there is some good news! While GOO! is primarily focused on offshore oil and gas development, we have also been monitoring three onshore oil projects in northern Santa Barbara County, which proposed a cumulative total of 763 onshore cyclic steaming wells; AERA, TerraCore and Petrorock. Fortunately, all three of these projects were withdrawn this year!! In addition, seven offshore platforms in federal waters, as well as Platform Holly in State waters, are slated for abandonment. In some cases, the process of plugging and abandoning the oil wells on these platforms has already started, and the permitting process for platform decommissioning is also moving forward.
The oil and gas projects which continue to move forward, and which GOO! continues to monitor, and in some cases oppose, include:
Proposal to Truck Oil from the Gaviota Coast to Santa Maria. Exxon filed an application with Santa Barbara County to construct a truck rack and transport up to 70 trucks of oil per day (10,000-12,000 barrels/day) from Las Flores Canyon to Santa Maria for up to seven years, unless a new pipeline is completed sooner. Approval of this proposed project will allow Exxon to restart production on its platforms in the Channel. Last year, Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN) joined GOO! in opposing this project which continues to progress. Representing GOO! and SBCAN, the Environmental Defense Center has reviewed the Final Environmental Impact Report. We are now waiting for Planning Commission hearings to be scheduled.
Proposal to Construct a New Pipeline from Gaviota to Pentland. Plains All American Pipeline has filed an application with Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties to replace pipelines 901/903 from Las Flores to Pentland. The capacity of the new 125 mile pipeline would be 40,000 barrels/day. A 2.5 mile segment will run through the Carrizo Plains National Monument, which did not exist when the original pipeline was built. A 100,000 barrel storage facility will also be needed at the Sisquoc pump station. GOO! retained the Environmental Defense Center to draft scoping comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Report due to be released in mid-2021.
Decommissioning of at least Seven Platforms in Federal Waters. As noted above, Chevron is proposing to decommission Platforms Grace and Gail; Point Arguello Partners is proposing to decommission Platforms Hidalgo, Harvest and Hermosa; and, finally, Signal Oil will be decommissioning Platforms Hogan and Houchin. While this is great news, GOO! will need to actively follow these decommissioning proposals to ensure that they are handled in a way that avoids significant adverse impacts to the marine environments surrounding these platforms.
Draft OCS Five Year Leasing Plan. In January of 2018, the Drumpf Administration released a Draft Five Year Leasing Plan, proposing to lease all of the currently-unleased offshore tracts around the entire country. GOO! immediately opposed the Draft Plan and retained the Environmental Defense Center to submit a comment letter on the Plan, which soon stalled. We expect that the Biden Administration will withdraw this ill-conceived Draft Plan. Nonetheless, GOO! will continue to monitor this issue, as well as the process for the next Five Year Plan (2022-2027), which will begin in 2021.
As you can see from this list, GOO! has much to do! Additionally, GOO! will continue to keep its radar attuned to all other oil development proposals that threaten our coastal environment.
Your support is critical to our fight against further oil development and our promotion of the local movement for renewable energy alternatives.
Please help us by becoming a new member or renewing your support by completing the form below and mailing it in with your membership/renewal payment today! Your contribution will advance our shared goal of preserving the astonishing beauty of Santa Barbara County, which we are so lucky to call home.
Sincerely,
Michael Lyons
President
