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Wednesday, Jul. 15, 1998
Drilling planned offshore from California
Projects off Southern California, which won't begin for 5 years, would be the first since state imposed ban in 1995
By AMANDA COVARRUBIAS
Associated PressSANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Plans are quietly under way by an obscure federal agency to allow new offshore oil drilling along California's coast for the first time in 14 years.
Despite a decidedly anti-drilling mood among coastal residents, the Minerals Management Service is working to let oil companies begin drilling on 39 undeveloped tracts off Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
While the Golden State has 1,000 miles of surf, sand and stunning panoramas, there are already 23 hulking platforms dotting the horizon off Southern California.
``They're ugly and they don't belong off this pristine shoreline,'' said Bill Daneen, a longtime resident of Nipomo, a coastal town in northern Santa Barbara County.
``If oil companies can't drill on land without making a mess, '' Daneen continued, ``how can we expect them to do any better offshore?''
It was a 1969 crude oil spill in the Santa Barbara Channel that triggered the nation's environmental movement after images of oil-slickened birds and fish were broadcast on nightly news shows.
Then in 1989, experts discovered a leaking underground pipeline that spilled 400,000 gallons of gasoline, diesel fuel and crude oil onto the shores of Avila Beach, 75 miles north of Santa Barbara. Just last month, Unocal Corp. agreed to pay $18 million to clean up the mess by tearing down the town.
By 1995, the state had imposed a permanent ban on offshore drilling within three miles of the coastline.
And last month, amid much hoopla, President Clinton signed an order against the scenic backdrop of Monterey Bay extending a federal ban on oil drilling off most of the U.S. coastline until 2012.
The measures have no effect on those 39 undeveloped oil leases off Southern California. Sold by the U.S. government in 1984 at the rate of $140,000 to $350 million, the leases still hold legal options to drill. Also not touched by the measures are the 23 existing oil platforms.
White House officials said Clinton didn't make the ban permanent in order to allow for flexibility if future science and technology were to lead to safer offshore oil and gas development.
Nothing is imminent. The 20 or so oil and gas companies that hold the undeveloped leases cannot drill until the Minerals Management Service, a branch of the Interior Department, finishes a $1.5 million feasibility study.
The study should be finished by the end of the year, after which public hearings will be held. It could take another five years before any new drilling starts, said economist Fred White, who is overseeing the project.Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web