GAVIOTA : Bid to Block Tanker Shipments Rejected

The California Coastal Commission has refused to revoke Chevron’s permit to use tankers to ferry crude oil from offshore wells north of Santa Barbara, along Ventura County’s coastline to refineries in south Los Angeles.

Commissioners, meeting in Los Angeles, voted 7 to 4 Wednesday to deny the request by the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center and the Santa Monica-based American Oceans Campaign despite allegations by the environmental groups that Chevron lied in its application to get the permit to use tankers.

“We’re not surprised, but we are disappointed they didn’t have the courage to change their vote,” said Linda Krop of the Environmental Defense Center.

Krop said Chevron had misrepresented the amount of crude oil that can be piped overland from its Gaviota terminal north of Santa Barbara through Kern County and then down to refineries in Los Angeles.

She also argued that the oil company has deceived the commission about its commitment to using a more direct pipeline that is proposed to run through Ventura County on its way from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles. Chevron won permission to use ocean-going tankers for three years while the pipeline is being built.

“We were able to show (Chevron) knew they lied, but we didn’t have the votes on the commission to follow through,” she said.

Chevron spokesman Mike Marcy called the environmentalists’ claims “sour grapes” and said his company is committed to using pipelines when more are built.

In the meantime, he said, Chevron could begin shipping its crude oil between Gaviota and Wilmington as soon as next month.

“We intend to abide by every condition in the permit,” Marcy said.