The State - News from Aug. 20, 1985

Environmentalists, politicians and oil industry officials were sharply divided at the first of 11 California “town hall meetings” scheduled to discuss Interior Secretary Donald Hodel’s plan to reopen the state’s coastal waters to offshore drilling. Oil spokesmen appearing at the first session, held in Eureka, said they wanted to open more than the 150 drilling tracts included in Hodel’s preliminary plan. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors was split on the subject, and environmentalists said they hope to limit or eliminate all new drilling. Hodel said he hopes to hear the full range of opinions concerning the proposal before he returns to Washington to work out an offshore oil agreement with Congress Sept. 1.