SEAL BEACH : Planning Panel Delays Unocal Vote

Unocal’s effort to reopen an oil-water separation plant has hit a snag amid complaints from residents who fear the facility will pollute the air.

The Planning Commission, which was set to vote on the project last week, put off a decision until Aug. 4. In the meantime, commissioners asked both city officials and Unocal to provide more information about the plant, located at Marina Drive and 1st Street.

If approved, the plant will process oil from offshore wells. The facility was closed in 1983 after powerful winter storms destroyed the offshore wells.

With the wells now in working order, Unocal seeks to open the plant again.

But residents oppose the move, fearing the plant will blight their neighborhood and might emit unhealthful materials. Several residents who oppose the plant spoke out at last Wednesday’s commission meeting.

City officials contend that any negative effects caused by the facility’s reopening can be offset by 32 proposed measures. Four separate studies provided by Unocal show that such separation plants do not pose a health risk to nearby residents, said Lee Whittenberg, the city’s planning director.

The commission asked that Unocal provide sketches at the Aug. 4 meeting of what the reopened plant would look like.