County Issue: Oil Pipeline

A Ventura firm wants to build a pipeline across 53 miles of Ventura County to link offshore oil fields with Los Angeles County refineries. The pipeline, which would carry 130,000 barrels of oil a day, is touted as safer than tankers. But it could threaten land along the preferred route next to the Santa Clara River. Should the pipeline be built?

* Norman Rooney: President, Pacific Pipeline Systems Inc., Ventura For the last five to six years, crude oil production has been shut in on the outer continental shelf off Gaviota because there is no means of transportation except tankering. It is the second-largest discovery of crude oil in the United States,second only to Alaska. In the meantime, we have imported an equal or more amount of crude oil from foreign sources, which has had a negative effect on our balance of payments. Last month, there was a report issued by the state fire marshal which showed that a pipeline is by far the safest means of transportation for any crude oil product. It is much safer than either by tanker or by rail. The study further showed that the possibility of leakage in a new pipeline was exceedingly remote and that a new pipeline is four to five times safer than existing pipelines. Granted, pipelines do not bring many ongoing permanent jobs. However, this pipeline will supply a total of 600 temporary jobs. It would mean approximately 20 new (full-time) employees in Ventura. We will hire a number of contractors and have them on call at all times for emergency response and maintenance of the pipeline.

* Cat Brown: Wildlife biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The Santa Clara River (route) is just one of the alternatives. We prefer the southern alternative, which would cross the Santa Clara but go up the east side of the Santa Susana Mountains and impact a lot fewer of the sensitive wildlife habitats and endangered species. The service does believe that transporting oil by pipeline can be safer than tankering, but we want to make sure that the most environmentally sensitive pipeline route is selected. The proposed route is not the most sensitive route. The proposed route will have numerous stream crossings and has the potential to impact several federal and state listed species, including the least Bell’s vireo, an endangered songbird, and the unarmored threespine stickleback, an endangered fish in the upper reaches of the Santa Clara. Several species appear at the mouth of the river such as the California least tern, the brown pelican, and the tidewater goby, a small fish that has been proposed for endangered status. The service’s biggest concern here is that an oil spill could be catastrophic and could destroy habitat and kill individuals of all these listed species.

* G. Michael Marcy: Spokesman, Coastal California region, Chevron If there is nothing else that the oil industry has learned it is that you never say never. You never say there can never be a tanker spill. You never say there can never be a pipeline spill. Historically, we recognize that pipeline transportation of petroleum products is a safer and more environmentally compatible means of moving crude oil. Currently there is simply insufficient capacity in existing pipelines to carry the crude oil from Point Arguello to refineries in Los Angeles. The Pacific Pipeline system is one of three proposals which could carry the crude oil to Los Angeles (and) is currently the one furthest along in the permitting process. In the past, when we tried to permit and build a pipeline known as the Angeles pipeline, we ran into significant local opposition. Residents of Los Angeles County seemed to indicate that they didn’t want new pipelines, yet residents of coastal California seem to indicate that they don’t want new tankers. If you can’t build pipelines and you can’t tanker the oil, you can’t very well fax the oil from Point Arguello to Los Angeles.

* Charles Price: President, Friends of the Ventura River I’m fully aware that oil is vital to our current industrialized society and we have to get it from some source unless we want to go back to the Stone Age. What’s the best way to do it? We need to look at all the specific details of the proposed construction. If this pipeline could be buried, how deep? Along what route? What are some of the backup safety provisions that will be involved in this pipeline? At some point they are going to have to cross the Santa Clara River and the Ventura River. How will that be done? Will it be attached to a railroad bridge? Will it be above water? Or will they trench it below the stream bed deep enough so it will not be a problem? We just don’t have enough knowledge about the particulars of this pipeline. I just have my particular feeling that the pipeline in the long run will be safer than the tankers. The Friends just want to see a lot more information. There’s been a progressive deterioration of the Ventura River from many, many sources. We want to protect the Ventura River to the best of our ability, considering there’s a lot of other pressures on it.

* Artis Hawkins: Business manager, Local 585 Laborers International Union of North America Yes, for the simple reason that I think it would be a lot safer with the pipe. It would give a lot of work to our people, who have been unemployed for over two years due to lack of construction work. Not only my trade but all the other trades will benefit. That’s not to say that it’s not safe for the pipe going through this county. If you had a map showing all the pipes going through California right now, one more pipe is not going to matter. It’s safe because it’s tested. Before anything could happen to it they could get to it. I don’t see where it could be a danger. You would be putting hundreds and hundreds of people to work in the Ventura area, the Santa Barbara area, the Los Angeles area. We have about 320 people unemployed right now. This would employ more than half of them. You see where that would help us out. We need that pipeline going through here. It would be a lot faster than taking it on oil tankers and a lot safer. Look at all the oil spills you have out in the ocean. You’re taking a chance of having oil spills out there.