Robertson Drops Oil Terminal Plan
Facing the anger of city officials and residents, televangelist Pat Robertson has dropped plans to reopen an offshore oil terminal that was the site of a devastating spill eight years ago, the officials announced Friday.
City attorneys made it clear to Robertson’s CENCO Refining Co. that the “city adamantly opposed plans” to use Huntington Beach-based Golden West Refining Co.’s terminal to supply crude oil to a Santa Fe Springs refinery, Mayor Shirley Detloff said.
The City Council voted two weeks ago to sue CENCO if it did not drop the plan.
Robertson formed CENCO in March to reopen the defunct Powerine Oil Refinery in Santa Fe Springs. The plan was to pump crude from tankers off Huntington Beach through a pipeline to the refinery.
Craig Moyer, a lawyer for CENCO, would not comment Friday. He had said previously that CENCO could still decide to operate the 50,000-barrel-a-day refinery and perhaps pipe crude in from a Long Beach terminal.
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