Coastal Panel Staff Opposes Oil Drilling at Palisades Site

Adding a new twist to Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s tortuous quest for permission to drill for oil in Pacific Palisades, the staff of the California Coastal Commission is recommending denial of the project.

A report scheduled for release Friday contends that the drilling site, located across Pacific Coast Highway from Will Rogers State Beach, is better suited for shoreline visitors’ parking or another recreational use, said commission energy analyst Mark Delaplaine, who is writing the report.

Instead of the seashore site, Occidental could drill its exploratory wells inland about a quarter mile from the coast highway on a piece of city parkland, away from the beach recreation area, Delaplaine said.

In the course of the 20-year controversy, the advantage has shifted back and forth between Occidental and opponents to drilling near the sea at the base of the palisades bluff. Most recently, Mayor Tom Bradley’s reversal of past policy in support of Occidental was followed by a legal victory in Superior Court for drilling foes.

The staff report represents the first Coastal Commission comment on the matter during the long fight. Because the site is close to the beach, the coastal panel has final authority over the project. Commissioners have set a public hearing on the matter for July 7 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

It is not uncommon for the 12-member Coastal Commission to overrule its staff. The commission is also becoming known for cliffhanger decisions on close votes.

“That’s the question now. How will the vote play out?” said Robert H. Sulnick, president of the activist group No Oil Inc. “That’s a whole different process.”

Sulnick said he found the staff decision “appropriate.”

Ronald Dean, president of the Pacific Palisades Residents Assn., said, “I think this is wonderful.”

These and other groups opposed to the drilling have argued that the project, which is near an earthquake fault, could trigger landslides and oil spills. Occidental disputes these dangers, maintaining that it has developed an ecologically sound plan.

Delaplaine, however, said the Coastal Commission staff had other reasons for urging denial of permission to drill.

“We’re not saying it’s a geological disaster,” he said. “We’re going with Occidental on the geology, but we’re going with the opposition on the land use.”

The root of the coastal staff’s concern, he said, is the city’s lack of a comprehensive plan for the Pacific Palisades shoreline. The California shoreline has been divided into 120 sections, for which local coastal programs, approved by the commission, are required by state law.

“It’s been 10 years since they were supposed to start, and it’s been nine years of no progress” for the Pacific Palisades section, Delaplaine said.

The coastal staff is reluctant to suggest approval of large projects without the plan, Delaplaine said.

Occidental has applied only to drill two wells to confirm the existence of a suspected 60 million barrels of oil under the palisades. The exploration would take two years. If oil were found, Occidental has said it would drill 60 wells at the site.

Maria D. Hummer, an attorney representing Occidental, said the staff report surprised her.

“There is no evidence . . . that a temporary facility, or for that matter, a permanent facility would have any psychological impact on beachgoers,” she said. “It is not on the beach. It is across a major parking lot and Pacific Coast Highway from the beach.”

But Delaplaine said the city plans to build a pedestrian overpass at the adjacent Sunspot Motel, where a new restaurant is planned. The city has also won Coastal Commission approval for a park with hiking trails on the landward side of Pacific Coast Highway.

“It’s kind of becoming a recreational nexus, a prime recreational site,” he said.

Hummer also said Occidental’s land is restricted by deed to oil drilling. But Delaplaine said the property had been reserved for parkland before Occidental obtained it.

“Obviously, these things are subject to change,” Delaplaine said.

Alternative Site

As for the suggested alternative site, two acres on the east side of Temescal Canyon Road, Hummer said, “It is an active recreational site. It’s a park. Beachgoers have been parking right in front of it.”

An aide to Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents Pacific Palisades and has led the opposition to drill there, said he is “gratified” by the staff’s position on the beach site but also has misgivings about the proposed alternative location.

“It would be a problem for me to drill for oil in parkland too,” said the aide, Glenn Barr.

Bradley may withhold comment until the Coastal Commission takes action, press deputy Ali Webb said.

“His part in this decision is finished,” Webb said. “If it is overturned by other bodies, then that’s the course it takes.”