Oil Firms Disclose Pipeline Route : Proposed System Would Pass Below 12 L.A. County Cities

A consortium of four major oil companies disclosed Friday the route of a proposed 130-mile pipeline to bring crude oil from the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Maria Basin to Los Angeles-area refineries. It would pass beneath 12 Los Angeles County communities.

The route, selected after months of evaluation, was announced as the Southern California Pipeline System filed applications for construction permits with local, state and federal agencies to build the $225-million line. The consortium is a joint venture of Atlantic Richfield Co., Chevron Corp., Shell Oil Co. and Texaco Inc.

The permit filing marked the beginning of an environmental review process that could take 18 months. The so-called Angeles Pipeline between Los Angeles and Kern counties would be linked with a second 124-mile system between Rancho San Emilio, 20 miles southwest of Bakersfield, and Gaviota on the Santa Barbara County coast. That would cost about another $175 million.

The oil companies hope to begin construction on the Angeles Pipeline late next year, with completion in mid-1988. At that time, production of crude oil from the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Maria Basin is expected to be significantly higher than the current level of 80,000 barrels a day. The figure is expected to reach 500,000 barrels daily by the early 1990s.

Higher Capacity

The 30-inch diameter line would be able to handle 330,000 barrels a day.

As proposed, the line would pass through portions of Burbank, Glendale, Los Angeles, Carson, Compton, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach and Paramount.

Arco spokesman Albert Greenstein said Friday that except for river crossings and flood control channels, the line would be primarily underground.

Beginning at Rancho San Emilio in Kern County, the system would follow an existing pipeline corridor across the Tehachapi and San Gabriel mountains to Newhall. There it would continue beneath San Fernando Road and the Sierra Highway, entering the San Fernando Valley near Sylmar.

From there, the line would head south through Burbank beneath Glenoaks Boulevard, south under Buena Vista Street to San Fernando Boulevard and then to Victory Place and Victory Boulevard through Glendale to Griffith Park.

It would cross back into Los Angeles below Crystal Springs Drive, turn west at Los Feliz Boulevard and then head south under Western Avenue until reaching Rosecrans Avenue in Gardena. At that point, the line would head west beneath Rosecrans to the Chevron refinery in El Segundo and then head east under Rosecrans to Wilmington Avenue.

At Wilmington it would head south until Sepulveda Boulevard, where it would branch off to nearby Arco, Shell and Texaco refineries. Another leg would head for a tank farm by continuing east below Rosecrans, south to Garfield Avenue, east to Artesia Boulevard and south at Paramount Boulevard to Seaboard Lane.

The pipeline would carry high-sulfur crude oil, and industry spokesmen said they anticipate continued opposition from environmental groups.

Environmentalists have raised questions about potential earthquake hazards, protection of the endangered California condor and air pollution.

The consortium avoided another possible controversy last October when it announced that the pipeline would proceed inland and avoid the Santa Barbara and Ventura County coasts.