County Planners OK Oil Company Permit
The Ventura County Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a 20-year permit for Berry Petroleum to continue pumping oil from the site where an 84,000-gallon spill occurred three years ago.
A Berry-owned pipeline spilled the heavy crude oil into McGrath Lake near Oxnard in December 1993. The spill, which occurred near the intersection of Gonzales Road and Harbor Boulevard, went unnoticed for four days.
The oil company was later ordered to pay $600,000 in fines and pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of failing to report the spill. Berry officials have said that the company spent more than $8 million on cleanup operations.
Although the Planning Commission’s decision can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors, that is not likely, said Lynne Kada, a county planner.
“There has been no opposition to the project,” she said.
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