Santa Clarita, Tenneco Prepare for Showdown on Power Plant

The city of Santa Clarita and Tenneco Oil Co. are digging in for a battle over a power plant the company wants to build in Newhall over community concerns that it will contaminate ground water.

The City Council, ignoring the company’s threats of a lawsuit, is refusing to rescind an order blocking Tenneco from completing the gas-burning plant, which is under construction on an old oil field near Placerita Canyon Road and Sierra Highway. City Atty. Carl K. Newton said Tuesday the City Council voted in a closed session late Thursday against withdrawing the order.

Tenneco, in turn, Tuesday rejected a City Council request for the company to apply for a city permit to build the plant. George C. Brown, a Tenneco attorney, said such an application was redundant because the company already had the necessary permit.

Construction Permits

Tenneco says it has approval to build the plant under authority granted when Los Angeles County issued four construction permits for the project last spring. At the time, the county was acting on the city’s behalf during a transition period after voter approval of city incorporation in November.

The City Council contends that the county permits violate a moratorium the new council imposed in December. The council issued a stop-work order Sept. 1, saying the county permits were issued in error. Brown said Tuesday that Tenneco should not be penalized for the mistake.

Tenneco’s decision effectively cancels a special meeting the City Council had scheduled for Friday to consider amending the moratorium to allow Tenneco to apply for a city permit.

Suit Threatened

Tenneco threatened last Thursday to sue if Santa Clarita did not lift the stop-work order, but Brown said Tuesday the company was still studying its options. He said a lawsuit “is obviously an option that’s open to management. I can’t imagine Tenneco walking away from an investment of this magnitude.”

Tenneco began construction in December under a conditional-use permit from the county. The company says it has spent $16 million on the project to date.

Meanwhile, still pending is an appeal of a Los Angeles Superior Court ruling against a lawsuit filed by the Placerita Canyon Homeowners Assn. and the city to block the plant. The suit argues that the county should have required Tenneco to prepare an environmental impact report on the plant.