Bradley Defends Oil Decision Before State Environmentalists

Mayor Tom Bradley defended his approval of Pacific Palisades oil drilling before a statewide environmental meeting on Saturday, saying that the decision will not open the door to oil wells in Santa Monica Bay.

Conditions the city has imposed on the Occidental Petroleum Corp. project, Bradley said, “will prevent drilling into the tidelands and the bay.”

Bradley, in the midst of a campaign for a fourth term, flew here to speak to a statewide environmental legislative symposium sponsored by the Planning and Conservation League amid continuing criticism on the Palisades oil issue.

The mayor clearly recognizes the damage he has done to himself with environmentalists, whose activist elements are a key part of the California Democratic Party.

As he has done before, he called the Palisades decision “the toughest decision in my political career.”

“I have displeased some of my friends,” he said. “I hope they are still my friends. I respect the fact that there are people who disagree and disagree violently,” he said.

But he asked the environmentalists he addressed Saturday not to “forget all the other things we have in common” and said he hopes that “we can keep working together.” Palisades residents, joined by some environmental activists elsewhere, have attacked the mayor, who was once a foe of Palisades oil drilling, for reversing himself this month.

Westside Democratic lawmakers have joined critics. Some have said that the decision would so anger environmentally oriented Democrats that Bradley has all but lost any chance for winning the party’s 1986 gubernatorial nomination.

Last week, his opponent in the 1982 governor’s race, Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, joined the critics.

He said that Bradley had been “less than sincere” when he wrote the governor last summer objecting to Deukmejian’s support of drilling in the bay. The Palisades beach fronts Santa Monica Bay.

Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica) has said he believes that the Bradley decision will weaken the city’s position in opposing oil drilling in the bay.

Bradley addressed himself to the bay oil issue in his speech and in a question-and-answer session afterward.

Extend Moratorium

“We will continue to insist that Congress maintain the designation of that bay as a sanctuary and extend the current moratorium against oil drilling offshore,” he said.

In a portion of his prepared text that he did not deliver, Bradley said: “Drilling (in the Palisades) will be directly into a pool of oil that does not underlie the Santa Monica Bay sanctuary. Therefore, drilling on land will not trigger drilling in the bay.”

In response to a question, Bradley said he has accepted assurances given to the city by the U.S. Interior Department that Palisades drilling is “a distinct issue” from the bay question.

Asked how he could reconcile his support of Palisades drilling with his opposition to wells in the bay, Bradley said: “Reconciling that to opposing oil drilling in the bay is easy. I have done that the last 10 years.”