Coastal Panel Approves Oil Drilling Project
The California Coastal Commission has approved an oil drilling project in Hermosa Beach but the plan--which has been in development for 14 years--still faces legal and administrative hurdles.
After hours of debate, the commission voted 7-2 Wednesday at its meeting in San Diego to approve Santa Monica-based Macpherson Oil’s slant-drilling project at a Hermosa Beach city maintenance yard. The company estimates it could produce 30 million barrels of oil from beneath Santa Monica Bay and generate $12 million in annual revenue.
The panel’s vote marks another step in the project’s complicated and lengthy history. In 1984, Hermosa Beach voters approved an exception to the city’s longtime ban on drilling. The city signed a lease with Macpherson in 1986. But a 1995 ballot measure banned oil drilling.
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