OK of Beach Drilling Will Stand, Panel Says

The California Coastal Commission on Thursday refused a request by the Los Angeles City Council that the panel reconsider its July decision to allow Occidental Petroleum Corp. to explore for oil in the Pacific Palisades.

By granting Occidental the permit July 7, the commission removed the last regulatory hurdle standing between the company and its 20-year effort to confirm the existence of a 60-million barrel underground oil pool near Will Rogers State Beach.

The commission’s action Thursday effectively blocked an effort by Occidental opponents to bring the oil-drilling issue back before the City Council, where they hoped to defeat the project. However, drilling still cannot immediately begin until two lawsuits aimed at keeping oil rigs out of the area are resolved.

The council in 1985 approved the controversial project. But since then, the makeup of the 15-member council has changed, with four of the project’s early proponents no longer holding seats.

In a major change of heart, the council, led by Marvin Braude who strongly opposes the project, last month voted 9 to 3 to seek the commission’s reconsideration. The council’s goal was to amend the coastal permit to give the council final jurisdiction over the project.

The amendment would have required the Coastal Commission to withhold the drilling permit until Occidental obtained approval from the City of Los Angeles to explore for oil in Pacific Palisades, a Braude spokeswoman said.

Such an amendment would have given the council a chance to debate the issue again and perhaps rescind the city’s earlier approval, according to Braude aide Cindy Miscikowski.

She said: “There are indications that the view of the council is changing. . . . How much (it is changing) is uncertain. It’s yet to be tested.”

Explaining the commission’s 7-5 rejection, panel spokesman Jack Liebster said the city must adhere to its original decision approving the project because it did not show sufficient cause to reopen the issue.

After the commission rejected the city’s request, Miscikowski said: “This was just an attempt to get the matter before the council again. . . . We were taking a long shot.”

Occidental attorney Maria Hummer said: “We are very pleased by the commission decision that there was no appropriate grounds for reconsideration. . . . We have now successfully completed the coastal development approval process.”

In one of the suits brought by opponents of the drilling, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has invalidated the city’s authorization of lease and drilling permits. Occidental is appealing the action. Pending is a more recent suit that challenges the Coastal Commission’s authority to grant the Occidental permit.