GAVIOTA : Tanker Tested Before Oil Shipments Start

After running tests Monday on an empty tanker at Gaviota Marine Terminal, oil companies will begin full-scale operations as early as next week, when tankers loaded with up to 10 million gallons of crude will begin journeying down the Ventura Coast, a Texaco spokeswoman said.

The California Coastal Commission gave the oil companies final permission last week to use tankers to transport oil to Los Angeles refineries from the Gaviota terminal, which stores crude from Point Arguello offshore fields.

Arriving Monday, the Chevron Oregon is the first tanker to dock at the terminal since the county of Santa Barbara and environmentalists started legal action 10 years ago to keep tankers out of Santa Barbara Channel. To use tankers on an interim basis, the oil companies had to agree to build a pipeline alternative by 1996.

Environmentalists fear that a spill would be catastrophic to wildlife and ruin hundreds of miles of shoreline. The tankers will sail within three miles of Anacapa Island.

About a dozen protesters in vessels ranging from kayaks to a commercial fishing boat demonstrated Monday at Gaviota, which is just north of Santa Barbara. Displaying banners reading “No Valdez Please” and “Spills Kill,” the protesters did not disrupt the testing operation, the Texaco spokeswoman said.

Tests were run on the Oregon’s hose lines and the terminal’s vapor recovering system. The oil companies say they are taking unprecedented precautions to avoid a spill, including using double-hulled tankers.

“The quickest, safest and most efficient way (to ship oil to Los Angeles) is right down the heart of Santa Barbara Channel,” said Gary Roberts, a Chevron executive.