Terminating Plans a Wise Move

Huntington Beach officials and neighborhood organizations did a good job in persuading an oil refining company to drop plans to reopen an offshore oil terminal.

CENCO Refining Co. had proposed reopening the terminal where the tanker American Trader ran over its anchor in February 1990, puncturing the hull and spilling about 400,000 gallons of crude oil into the water.

Because of that disaster, the city and neighborhood groups objected to reopening the terminal. The danger to the environment would have been great. The 1990 oil spill closed Orange County beaches for weeks, killed at least 1,000 birds and cost millions of dollars to clean up.

Oil pumped from ships tied up at the terminal ultimately would have wound up at a refinery in Santa Fe Springs. The Planning Commission in that Los Angeles County city voted to let the refinery resume operations.

But last month Huntington Beach voted to sue CENCO and Santa Fe Springs if the plan wasn’t scrapped. After city officials and company executives met in the office of Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva in Santa Ana, the firm announced this month it was scrapping its proposal.

Neighborhood organizations that opposed CENCO included one that formed specifically to fight the terminal reopening. Now the group said it hopes to have unused oil tanks on shore dismantled. One of those oil storage facilities, on Newland Street in Huntington Beach, had been purchased by CENCO. Like the terminal and the refinery, the Newland Street yard has not been operating.

The battle reflected Huntington Beach’s attempts to transform itself from a city with historic roots in the oil it pumped to one centered on tourism. Luring visitors depends in large part on keeping the beaches clean and the waters safe for swimmers and surfers. Those goals would have been threatened if another disaster at sea occurred.

That was apparent to the 400-family Southeast Huntington Beach Neighborhood Assn., whose chairman said the memory of the 1990 oil spill was etched sharply in residents’ memories.

The spill provided a stunning example of the fragility of natural resources. The beach that is taken for granted by many people suddenly was endangered. Since the spill, Orange County’s shoreline has become an even greater magnet for residents and visitors. Barbecues, volleyball tournaments, surfing contests, peaceful walks along the beach, all blend as parts of a marvelous pageant for the county.

Since 1990, Huntington Beach has made considerable progress in upgrading its downtown and waterfront area. City officials and residents were properly cautious in the face of a renewed threat to one of the city’s major assets. CENCO also was right in not testing the resolve of the city.