PAREDON OIL DRILLING INITIATIVE GOES TO BALLOT
In February 2009, Venoco Inc. submitted a proposed ballot initiative to the City of Carpinteria that would have citizens vote on whether to allow its proposed oil drilling project on the Carpinteria coastline (the “Paredon Project”) to move forward. The project, would involve the drilling of up to 35 wells and the installation of a 175-foot drilling rig on the Carpinteria coast, would be the first new oil drilling project to tap into offshore deposits in the Santa Barbara Channel in decades.
Venoco’s Initiative came after the City of Carpinteria’s Environmental Review Committee voted in May 2008 to delay issuance of the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) – thereby postponing the final decision about whether to approve the project - until several questions and concerns about its numerous adverse environmental impacts could be addressed. The City challenged the legality of the initiative on the grounds that it exceeded the scope of the initiative power reserved to the people. Unfortunately, last July the Santa Barbara Superior Court ruled that most of the initiative should be allowed to move forward, although a portion of the initiative that would’ve given Venoco special rights was invalidated. The Carpinteria City Council subsequently voted 4-1 to appeal the Court’s ruling because it raises serious conflicts with the City’s Local Coastal Plan, but meanwhile was required by the Court to issue a ballot title and summary for the initiative. Venoco gathered the requisite number of signatures and the City was forced to place the initiative – Measure J - on the ballot for a vote of the people on June 8, 2010.
A report prepared by City staff late last year analyzed the economic and environmental impacts of Venoco’s project as proposed in the ballot initiative and found that it could cause numerous significant adverse environmental impacts, including to water quality, public safety, marine resources, onshore species and habitats, recreation and aesthetics. These impacts were found to be even more significant in the project as put forward in Venoco’s ballot initiative than in the project as presented for environmental review more than two years ago. This is because Venoco’s Initiative does not offer to implement mitigation measures as rigorous as those recommended in the EIR that the City was finalizing when Venoco decided to pursue a ballot initiative instead.
Channelkeeper is closely tracking this project and has commented extensively on it, highlighting its numerous environmental impacts and the weak mitigation and oversight structure proposed in the Initiative. We are highly concerned that Venoco’s initiative represents an end-run around the City’s typical public planning and environmental review process, thereby denying the public of critical information about the project and the due process of public hearings to air their concerns. It could also set a dangerous precedent, opening the door for developers to take advantage of the people’s initiative process to avoid regulatory oversight and public review of potentially harmful projects. Channelkeeper has joined the Carpinteria Valley Association, Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs, EDC and other community groups in opposing Measure J. Please visit citizensagainstparedon.org to learn more.
Background Info:
Venoco, Inc. is proposing a project (the "Paredon Project") to develop and produce oil and natural gas in Carpinteria from offshore and onshore reservoirs using extended reach drilling. The project would include the drilling of up to 35 wells and the installation of a 175-foot drilling rig at Venoco's Carpinteria Oil and Gas Processing Facility, which sits on the Carpinteria coastline just above the harbor seal sanctuary, Tar Pits Park and the Pacific Ocean. This project could have significant detrimental impacts on water quality and the marine environment.
The oil from the wells would be processed at Venoco's Carpinteria Oil and Gas Processing Facility (CPF) and shipped via existing pipeline to Los Angeles area refineries. The produced gas would also be processed at the CPF and then sold to The Gas Company through existing facilities and pipelines. Produced water, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling and which can contain high concentrations of salts, metals, hydrocarbon and organic compounds and sulfur, would be treated at the CPF and then reinjected back into the reservoir.
The City of Carpinteria (the lead agency on the project) solicited public comments on a scoping document to call out the primary environmental impacts that should be addressed in the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Channelkeeper submitted a comment letter highlighting the numerous water quality issues we believe the EIR must address, including the fate of produced water, drilling muds, stormwater runoff, construction impacts to nearby waterways, and the risk of oil spills. Click here to read our comment letter on the scoping.
The Draft EIR for the Paredon Project was released on June 11, 2007. Channelkeeper submitted extensive comments on the Draft EIR and oral testimony to the City of Carpinteria at its July 30, 2008 public hearing (click here to read our comment letter). The City then issued the Final EIR on March 6, 2008.
The Final EIR finds that the proposed project would have no less than eleven Class I impacts – adverse environmental impacts that will be significant even with extensive mitigation measures – to marine resources, marine mammals, onshore water and biological resources, recreation, visual aesthetics, and public safety due to the increased potential for oil spills, the installation of a 175-foot drilling rig, and the risk of upset and releases of hazardous materials. The EIR also identifies scores of other potential environmental impacts that would require extensive measures to mitigate.
The City of Carpinteria's Environmental Review Committee (ERC) met on May 19, 2008 to discuss the adequacy of the Final EIR. Channelkeeper testified that the severity of the project's water quality impacts were under-represented in the Final EIR and urged the ERC to require further information about and mitigation for these impacts. The ERC voted 5-0 to send the Final EIR back to the drawing board for further revision, raising concerns about air and water quality, noise impacts, seismic hazards and the potential for devastating oil spills. The ERC will meet again in the near future to consider certifying the revised Final EIR, and if they do, the Final EIR will be sent to the City Planning Commission and then City Council for final consideration and approval.
Please join Channelkeeper in our effort to ensure that the health and safety of Carpinteria, its citizens and environment will not be compromised - sign our petition urging Carpinteria City Council to reject the Paredon Project by sending an email to paredonpetition@sbck.org with your full name, address, phone number and email. Thank you!
