Anonymous
Oil platforms off Santa Barbara coast (file photo)
Source: Environmental Defense Center
Environmental groups celebrated [Friday], after the California State Lands Commission terminated four oil and gas leases in state waters directly offshore the City of Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County.
The leases were purchased by Carone Petroleum Corporation in 1997, at which time Carone proposed to develop the leases by slant drilling from federal Platform Hogan. For more than twenty years the Environmental Defense Center (EDC), a public interest environmental law firm, has been representing the Carpinteria Valley Association, Get Oil Out!, and Sierra Club Los Padres Chapter in opposition to this proposal, as well as a similar proposal by Venoco, to develop the Paredon project. With the termination of the Paredon leases offshore Carpinteria and the Venoco leases offshore Ellwood, the Carone leases were the last active leases in State waters offshore Santa Barbara County.
“The coast of Santa Barbara County is finally free from the threat of oil drilling in State waters,” said Linda Krop, Chief Counsel of EDC. “The termination of State oil leases also sends a strong message to the federal government that our communities are doing everything in our power to prevent oil and gas development off our coast.”
The Carone leases were located immediately adjacent to the City of Carpinteria, in close proximity to the public open space at Carpinteria Bluffs, the seal rookery, and near homes and agricultural fields. An oil spill from development of these leases would have had a devastating impact on the community, wildlife, and public beaches. The termination of the leases means that this area will never be at risk for oil development.
Carpinteria Valley Association President Mike Wondolowski commented, “Fifty years ago, our coast was ground zero for the largest oil spill in US waters at that time. Today’s action ensures there will be no sequel to that horror movie, and the community of Carpinteria can enjoy the Carpinteria Salt Marsh, Carpinteria Bluffs with its harbor seal rookery, and the beaches in between knowing this threat has been eliminated.
Carla Frisk, Get Oil Out! Board member stated, “Since its inception 50 years ago, Get Oil Out! (GOO!) has worked diligently to retire leases in State waters just like the Carone Oil leases. We are extremely pleased that the State Lands Commission has voted to terminate these leases, thereby placing them under the permanent protection of the California Coastal Sanctuary Act, adding yet another milestone towards our ultimate goal of ridding offshore Santa Barbara County from all oil and gas development.”
“This lease termination will permanently protect the coastal ocean waters of Carpinteria by adding a former oil lease to the coastal sanctuary. This is a victory for Carpinteria and everyone who values clean water and vibrant ocean ecosystems,” said Katie Davis, Chair, Sierra Club Los Padres Chapter.
The State of California has not issued any offshore oil and gas leases since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill; however, several leases were approved prior to that date. In 1994, the State legislature passed the California Coastal Sanctuary Act, which imposed a ban on any new leasing in State waters (the first three miles offshore). The Act further required that as existing leases were terminated, those areas would be added to the Coastal Sanctuary and permanently protected from future leasing or development. Now that the Carone leases have been terminated, that area will be added to the State’s Coastal Sanctuary.
Bravo!
Molto Bravo!
Risk definitely outweighed the rewards of any further development of this tract.
Especially when it’s public risk and private reward!
It has been a long time coming. We in Carp stopped the Veneco plan for slant drilling from shore when they decided they didn’t like the City Council questioning their EIR reports. They were going to “take it to the people” by getting it on the ballot thinking their claims of all the money they were going to donate to our community would convince people to vote their plan in. Their “Measure J” was going to fix their problems. They hired an out of county PR outfit for a small fortune to convince us. The company didn’t know Carpinteria. We formed a grassroots effort to educate locals on the bad effects and defeated their plan by a 70% no vote. They had to get 1,500 signatures on a petition to get the issue on the ballot and didn’t even get that many votes in their favor.
I guess most of you don’t drive cars…. the large amount of gas under our immediate oceans have covered our fish with slime, dumped tar on the beaches, and I for one, won’t eat anything that comes out of the Santa Barbara channel. Good luck .
Great news.
Are owners of platforms responsible for removal costs?
If not, who is?
Is it an prohibitive endeavor cost wise?
Your comment is absurd and unfounded.
I wish Bud Bottoms and the others now gone yet who fought so hard against oil development in our Channel were here to see this. Terrific news.
Gas goes up another six cents a gallon tomorrow. Only in CA. I hope all in Carp drive gas-guzzling pickups. Feel the pain at the pump for your idiocy.
So who is going to remove the oil rigs? Let me guess, the corporation will go bankrupt that owns the rigs and we will watch them rot over the next 30 years.
I live in Carp and mostly ride my bike. Not all oil is created equal. The oil left in the channel was never going to go in any car, yours or mine. Why do you think Chevron and Union 76 left a long time ago, top quality oil ran out.
We are now the largest oil producer in the world and export a large percentage (saw the figures but don’t remember exactly.) The money rec’d “floats” to the top; the damages sink to the bottom: That’s American taxpayers and people who live near refineries or beaches or have it transported across their land with the risk of spillage.
That’s historically quite accurate. Anyone think extraction industries, local or foreign, are going to change their behavior out of a sense of fairness, responsibility or the goodness of their hearts?
That’s often what happens when corporations tout the number of jobs created. Locals should always ask themselves: How long will the job take and will it be filled locally or do locals just bear the brunt of various life-quality deteriorations and environmental degradements?
We need lots of cheap locally produced asphalt to repair our deplorable streets. So we can drive our electric cars without rattling the fenders off, and ride our bikes and scooters without falling into massive potholes. Off shore drilling for asphalt is a win win.
Yeah, export the problems to some other state. That’s the ticket.
Aren’t the defunct rigs now teeming with coral life and creatures that have made a home on and around them? I saw a short film on that once.
Always on the side of the people and the environment and wildlife, NOT big oil money. YAY! This is great news.
Molto molto bravo!
Someone posts that “gas is going up 6 cents a gallon tomorrow” so we in Carp can all feel the “pain of our idiocy”. I would rather pay 50 cents a gallon more than have destruction from offshore oil like we did in 1969. We’re idiots for wanting to protect our ocean and coasts? The destruction and cost of cleanup is incredibly higher than paying a few cents for gas.
I drive a car, does that take away my right to vote on any issue involving oil? The seeps offshore are due to the oil industry injecting pressurized fluid to mobilize the oil deposits for extraction. If they would stop pressurizing the wells, the seeps would decrease back to background levels. Sorry if the facts don’t fit your world view.
GOO