2 Counties Demand Halt of Oil Tankers

Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties have asked Washington to withdraw permission for Exxon Corp. to ship crude oil by tanker near the ecologically fragile Channel Islands.

The two counties dispatched a joint letter asking Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to rescind federal authorization for the Houston-based oil company to use tankers to haul crude from its Santa Barbara Channel oil wells until Exxon has obtained the proper local permits.

The regional office of the Minerals Management Service decided in July to allow the use of tankers, which carry a much higher risk of a spill than pipelines, experts say. The service is one of the many agencies under Babbitt’s supervision.

“This is a last-ditch political appeal,” said Pamela Gross, a Santa Barbara County official. “I don’t think anyone wants to end up in the courts.”

Ventura County has decided to stay out of the fracas, even though county officials prefer pipelines for transporting oil rather than tankers.

“We think this is just a permit issue between Santa Barbara and Exxon,” said Ventura County planning Director Keith Turner. “We don’t believe we should be entering the fray, as long as this is not an all-out attack on local government to carry out its duties.”

Exxon spokesman Bill Tanner said the company is not using tankers to transport oil from its Santa Ynez offshore fields and it wants to resolve the difference of opinions over conditions imposed by local permits.

“We have not tankered since March,” Tanner said. But he said the company may ship one tanker-load of oil this month if market conditions are right.