Oil Project Rescinded; Conflict by a Former Councilman Is Alleged

The Huntington Beach City Council has rescinded approval of a controversial $25-million oil project because a former city councilman allegedly had business dealings with the oil company and failed to make the relationship public at the time he voted to approve the plan.

The council’s move Monday night was welcomed by hundreds of city residents who bitterly opposed Angus Petroleum’s project to drill 60 oil wells near the residential intersection of Delaware and Springfield streets. The group, Concerned Citizens of Huntington Beach, filed suit against the city and former Councilman John A. Thomas after the council voted 4 to 3 to approve the project in October.

Huntington Beach City Atty. Gail Hutton, who advised the council at the time of the October vote that Thomas had no prior business dealings with Angus and therefore no conflict of interest existed, said Tuesday that additional information has since come to her attention indicating otherwise.

Hutton, citing the pending lawsuit, would not disclose how she learned of the possible conflict or what it involved.

“It’s a very cloudy issue now,” she said, adding that her October ruling was based on “all the facts that I was told. I stated that I was told by Angus in a letter that they never had any dealing with John Thomas. I was also told he did not have a contract with Angus in the past.”

Work Subcontracted

Sources told The Times, however, that Angus Petroleum awarded a job to Huntington Beach oil contractor Carl Weaver, who then subcontracted with Thomas’ crane and trucking company to demolish a house on the proposed 3.2-acre oil field site.

Under the plan that the city had approved, Angus could operate as many as 60 new wells in a two-block area. One is bounded by Toronto Avenue, California Street, Springfield Avenue and Huntington Street; the second is bordered by Springfield, California, Delaware Street and Rochester Avenue. In exchange for being allowed to drill and operate the new, consolidated wells, the company would abandon 34 other wells in the city.

Homeowners unsuccessfully argued that the project was not compatible with their residential neighborhood, which is near the Civic Center, and that the 60 wells would bring noise, odors, traffic, a potential for industrial accidents and lowered property values.

The group then filed suit in November, alleging that the project was approved without sufficient consideration of its environmental impacts and that Thomas had a conflict of interest with Angus Petroleum.

“We were aware that John Thomas’ trucks were physically on the site in December, 1985, doing demolition and site-clearing work on property owned by Angus,” said John Murdock, the attorney for Concerned Citizens of Huntington Beach. “Thomas failed to acknowledge that he was involved in the project and that he had received payment of money for the project.”

Thomas, interviewed at his office Tuesday, said he did not have a conflict of interest.

“I have a clear conscience,” he said, adding: “I don’t have any ties with Angus.”

Asked whether he knew that Weaver had an agreement with Angus Petroleum, Thomas said: “I’d done a job for Carl Weaver. I didn’t even question it. I just did work for him, period.”

Thomas, who left the council in November, was prohibited from serving more than two consecutive terms in office.

Weaver, who according to city officials also maintains three municipal oil wells, declined to comment, except to say: “I have to live in this town; you have to understand that.”

The city’s conflict-of-interest law states that a council member must disqualify himself from voting when a participant in the proceeding has made a contribution of $250 or more to the member within the preceding 12 months.

Spencer Sheldon, a spokesman for Angus Petroleum, said the company knew nothing about the alleged conflict. He said the company, based in Golden, Colo., will appeal the council’s rescission later this week.

If so, a new public hearing before the seven-member City Council will be held next month to determine the project’s fate. The company’s project had been voted down 6 to 0 by the Planning Commission on Sept. 3. It was Thomas who appealed the commission’s decision, a move that forced a vote before the City Council. Despite a petition signed by more than 400 people who opposed the project, the council narrowly approved it, with Thomas casting one of the crucial votes in the oil company’s favor.

Pamela Steele, vice president of Concerned Citizens for Huntington Beach, said Tuesday that her group was elated with the council’s decision to rescind its approval.

“Our group is extremely excited,” she said. “We will now go through the regular procedure with the City Council, bringing up our strong points again. Our suit still stands. . . . So if the new City Council approves the project, we can pick up our suit from where we left it and go right on.”