SLO County will allow dozens of new oil wells at Arroyo Grande field in the next 3 years
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to allow dozens of new oil wells to be built at the Arroyo Grande oil field over the next three years.
Supervisor Bruce Gibson voted against the motion.
The vote came after a 2.5-hour hearing on Tuesday, during which supervisors heard several public comments and testimony from Sentinel Peak Resources — the oil company that operates the field — and the Center for Biological Diversity — an environmental advocacy organization that contested the construction of the 31 wells.
The board’s vote denied a 2015 appeal from the Center for Biological Diversity that refuted a time extension to construct new oil production wells at the field located off Price Canyon Road northeast of Arroyo Grande.
By denying the center’s appeal, Sentinel Peak Resources has three years to build 31 new oil production wells at the field.
“I think it’s so important that for us here in California, we’ve had the opportunity to actually understand that while we’re utilizing petroleum in our daily lives, that we’re doing it in the cleanest manner we know how,” Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said at the hearing. “By supporting this, it’s not just because of the good jobs here, it’s not just because of using the products, but we have to follow the science, and the science is demonstrating that this operation can be done clean and efficiently.”
Appeal follows earlier effort to block time extension
Tuesday’s hearing came six years after the center appealed the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission’s decision to grant a time extension request by Freeport McMoRan — which at the time operated the oil field — to finish its “Phase IV” planned construction operations at the oil field.
Between 2004 and 2015, Freeport McMoRan was permitted by the county to build 95 oil production wells, 30 steam-injection wells and three steam generators, as well as new and modified well pads at the oil field.
The permit gave the company no more than 10 years to build those new wells.
In 2015, when that building time expired, the oil company hadn’t yet built 31 of those 95 oil production wells. So, it applied for an extension later that same year so it could have more time to build them.
The county Planning Commission then granted that extension request to give the company three more years, or until November 2018, to build the 31 wells.
The center promptly appealed the Planning Commission’s decision because it was concerned about the environmental impacts those wells could have — specifically any new impacts that may have arisen since the original permit was granted a decade before.
In its November 2015 appeal, the nonprofit organization detailed numerous environmental concerns regarding how the additional 31 wells could impact San Luis Obispo County residents. The center also alleged in its appeal that the county must examine the environmental impacts of the 31 proposed wells because the previous environmental impact review is outdated and additional information is now known about the damage oil drilling does to the environment.
The Planning Commission refuted the claims that the center made in its appeal, arguing that the 2004 environmental impact review was sufficient and that Sentinel, the current operator, should be allowed to drill the 31 new oil production wells in the next three years. It recommended the board deny the center’s appeal.
Public comment split on oil field appeal
The board’s 4-1 vote on Tuesday came after nearly 20 people gave public comment regarding the oil field. Commenters were evenly split on the appeal.
“I think this county is rather blessed to have this field to produce oil, especially over 100 years, to give back what this county takes from the petroleum industry,” said Jimmy Bognuda, who has worked at the oil field since 1979.
Other commenters opposing the center’s appeal mentioned how imported oil may not be subject to the strict environmental reviews that locally produced oil must undergo. They also said the 50 jobs provided at the oil field and the property tax paid to the county provide strong economic incentives for allowing Sentinel to bolster its operations.
Those against spoke about their concerns regarding their health and climate change impacts from the oil field.
“These wells and their toxic waste are getting closer to our (drinking water) wells and the wells of our neighbors,” said Michael Hannon, a resident of Arroyo Grande who lives about a mile away. “You have a chance to stop this pollution of the Oak Park aquifer. Make your decision based on the people who live here, and not another oil company.”
Additional commenters supporting the center’s appeal were concerned that Sentinel has no plan on how to transport its oil from the Arroyo Grande field after the Phillips 66 Santa Maria refinery shuts down in 2023.
Supervisor Gibson, who was the sole vote supporting the center’s appeal, said he thought the 31 new wells set to be constructed at the field should be subject to additional environmental review. He noted that the 5% to 10% decline in oil production from each well each year after they’re built means that to continue operations at the field, Sentinel will likely propose an expansion of its operations there, which would require a new land-use permit and subsequent environmental review from the county.
“I think the appropriate approach would be to wrap those 31 wells left to drill into a future project that gets the right environmental review,” he said during Tuesday’s hearing.
Contrary to Gibson’s remarks, however, is that the county planning department has allowed Sentinel to replace old wells on site to ensure it can continue its operations at the field. Since 2017, there have been 37 new oil wells approved by the state and county to be constructed at the Arroyo Grande oil field.
Reaction to SLO County board’s vote
Environmental organizations were disappointed by the board’s vote.
“The dangerous drilling processes used in Arroyo Grande draw from the county’s already low water supplies, and the resulting waste pollutes Pismo Creek and nearby groundwater supplies at a rate of over a million gallons a day,” said Mary Ciesinski, executive director of ECOSLO, the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo. “The board’s approval of Sentinel Peak’s application threatens our water, air, and climate at a time when we need leaders who will help our community turn away from fossil fuel production and turn toward renewable energy.”
Liz Jones, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, said the board’s approval of the time extension was “short-sighted.”
“The board abandoned its duty to protect residents through oversight and review of drilling operations,” she said after Tuesday’s vote. “This decision puts communities and our climate at risk by potentially allowing Sentinel to drill in perpetuity without proper environmental review.”
This story was originally published October 19, 2021 at 2:42 PM.
