No Oil Moves to Delay Occidental Drill Project

In a clear signal that the fight over Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s drilling plans in Pacific Palisades is far from over, the head of No Oil Inc. on Friday appealed approval of a relatively minor aspect of the project.

No Oil Inc. President Roger Jon Diamond said the city zoning administrator’s approval of the 8-foot-high stucco wall and 155-foot-tall Spanish-style bell tower intended to hide Occidental’s exploratory oil derrick violates city zoning laws. Occidental requires the approval in order to secure a California Coastal Commission permit to launch its long-sought project.

“We’re going to battle (Occidental) every inch of the way,” said Diamond after filing the appeal. “Everything they’re going after, they’re going to have to fight for.”

Valuable Time

Diamond’s challenge may be considered in about two months by the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals. Win or lose, the challenge may provide valuable time for anti-drilling opponents in their quest to stop Occidental’s drilling plans, a fight that has spanned nearly two decades.

No Oil Inc., joining Councilmen Marvin Braude and Zev Yaroslavsky, in the next few weeks will launch a drive to qualify a ballot initiative that calls for a ban on coastal oil drilling in the city. If approved, the initiative may not block exploratory drilling at the Pacific Coast Highway site, but commercial production would be barred, proponents say.

If drilling opponents can throw up roadblocks to Occidental’s plans before the November election, they say they may be able to undercut any assertion by Occidental that it would be unfair to halt an expensive drilling project that already was well under way.

Diamond said that if the appeal has the “collateral consequence” of aiding the initiative drive, “we certainly don’t mind that, but that is not our reason for” filing the appeal.

The main obstacle to an early drilling start is bureaucratic red tape and legal maneuvering by drilling foes.

The California Supreme Court went a long way toward solving the red tape problem Feb. 25 by refusing to overturn an appellate court decision endorsing the project. The following day, Associate Zoning Administrators Robert Janovici and Jack C. Sedwick approved the architectural renderings submitted by Occidental depicting the landscaping, stucco enclosure wall and bell tower at the drilling site.

Occidental proposed, and the city agreed, that the wall and bell tower would be built to hide the oil derricks once the company received Coastal Commission approval to begin commercial production of the field. But the commission, going beyond the city requirements, made the wall and tower a condition for granting the exploratory permit.

Diamond said Friday that one of his key objections to the zoning administrators’ approval was that it came without a public hearing.

Occidental attorney Maria Hummer predicted that the company will successfully challenge the appeal but conceded that the challenge will delay the project.