Appeal to U.S. Over North County Sites : Governor Opposes Offshore Drilling Plan

The Deukmejian Administration has reiterated its opposition to oil drilling off the North San Diego County coast, calling on the federal government to recognize military and environmental concerns in the area.

In a letter released Tuesday, State Environmental Affairs Secretary Jananne Sharpless asked the U. S. Department of Interior to exclude 17 proposed lease tracts off Oceanside and Camp Pendleton as possible oil drilling sites.

The tracts had been excluded from the Interior Department’s original proposal for the current round of lease sales off Southern California because of concerns expressed by the Defense Department, which uses the area for training exercises and for access to the Marine Corps base.

Reopened for Possible Sale

But the sites, which are just outside the 3-mile limit on state waters, were reopened for possible sale after the Defense and Interior departments began negotiations to resolve their differences.

However, earlier this month Rep. Ron Packard said the Navy and the Marine Corps had agreed to allow offshore oil drilling near Oceanside and Carlsbad as long as derricks don’t sprout in the shipping lanes off Camp Pendleton--a move that outraged some North County officials. A Department of Interior spokeswoman characterized any agreement as “premature.”

Regardless of the final outcome of the talks, Sharpless told the Department of Interior, the state remains opposed to the sale.

Sharpless noted that the military plays a “critical role” in the local economy, which might be hurt if oil drilling forced Defense Department operations to move elsewhere. She added that San Diego County is already in violation of federal air-quality standards and that oil drilling could add to the problem.

“I fully expect further environmental protection measures will be instituted to address the specific conditions of this proposed lease sale so that the coastal and ocean environments of California are safeguarded for future generations,” Sharpless wrote.

4th Objection

Sharpless’ letter represented the fourth time the Deukmejian Administration had opposed drilling in the area. Other objections were raised during consideration of the Department of Interior’s five-year plan for offshore drilling and in public comments on the so-called Lease Sales 80 and 95.

Unlike most California politicians, Gov. George Deukmejian has said he would support offshore oil drilling under certain conditions. He said he wants to ensure that California’s coastline “will not be jeopardized” by the drilling.

Dana Whitson, director of special projects for the city of Oceanside, said that city remains opposed to the proposed lease sale. She said the drilling would almost certainly require the city to enforce stricter air-quality standards on onshore businesses to make up for the higher levels of air pollution that would result from the drilling.

“There is the potential that we would have to restrict onshore activity to compensate for an offshore activity that has no economic benefit for the region,” she said.

Although the city will have a chance to comment on the proposal when an environmental study is prepared, Whitson said Oceanside hopes to stop the plan before it gets to that stage. Whitson said the city believes that the Interior Department’s talks with the Defense Department should be open to scrutiny.

“This is a big foot in the door,” she said. “We feel the public has the right to participate and comment and know the basis for these decisions. We feel like that’s being ignored.”

The fear of local officials such as Whitson was heightened earlier this month by Packard’s announcement about the Defense Department’s agreeing to allow oil drilling near Oceanside and Carlsbad as long as property offshore from Camp Pendleton is kept off limits.