Request by Exxon to haul oil after pipeline break denied

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Officials denied a request Tuesday by Exxon Mobil to temporarily use tanker trucks to transport crude oil from offshore wells through Santa Barbara County after a recent pipeline break that has become the state's largest coastal oil spill in 25 years.

The move came on the same day that California lawmakers formed a special legislative committee to investigate the May spill that caused as much as 101,000 gallons of oil to blacken beaches and create an ocean slick.

Santa Barbara County's Planning and Development director rejected Exxon's emergency permit application, saying it didn't meet the requirements for expedited review. Exxon can apply again through the regular permitting process, officials said.

Exxon normally moves oil from three offshore platforms through more than 10 miles of pipeline owned by Plains All American Pipeline. The movement has been stopped since the pipe ruptured on May 19, fouling beaches.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ed84c36f6db9449ea1c29077f775ac15/request-exxon-haul-oil-after-pipeline-break-denied

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Oh, GOOD.

[Hekate]

2. Good for us. I can't get the AP story to load, but my husband says he heard on KCLU that...

...the stream of tanker trucks would be continuous. You know, the ones Rachel keeps referring to as rolling bombs. We are less than a mile from US 101 freeway, which is the only freeway that runs through our narrow coastal corridor.

[catchnrelease]

3. An accident on 101 would be horrendous

A few years ago I was driving home from my daughters place--San Luis Obispo to Long Beach--on 101 and there was an accident somewhere between Hwy 150 and Ventura. So 101 was closed at 150, and all of the freeway traffic both directions was routed along 150, which is a two lane road that goes to and around Lake Casitas. The cars had to creep, bumper to bumper for miles and miles with no way to turn around, stop etc. We were finally able to get back on the 101 just North of Ventura. It added 3 hours to my trip home. It was hell! What would they do with traffic if an accident happened where there is NO alternative to take?

I can only imagine one of those tankers having an accident along that route, requiring hazmat cleanup etc. The road could be closed for days. Holy crap it would be a mess in every possible meaning of the word! So glad to hear that this was denied and I hope it is never approved.

(Plus it bugs the s*@# out of me that these oil companies don't have to pay any tax to the state after taking 'our' oil. It's my understanding that most states to require an extraction tax.)

[on point]

4. Perhaps they should have insisted on a safer pipeline.

[Hekate]

5. They did and they do. This was the ONLY pipeline in the County without an automatic shutoff valve

And why was that, you ask? Because Plains sued the County to have their inspections under another jurisdiction, and since the oil companies have more money than God, they won. I hope the judge that found in their favor is still alive to feel the shame.

Just for the record, the residents and elected officials of Santa Barbara County have been fighting Big Oil for 50 years....

[on point]

6. I meant Exon. By not insisting their supplier was safer, they will suffer production loss.

[Dont call me Shirley]

7. It's time to keep oil in the ground, permanently.

The Death Penalty needs to be used for corporations, not humans.

[d_legendary1]

8. Just remember that Keystone Pipeline is nothing like California

Or the Bridger Pipeline, or Navarro County, or Tehuacana Creek...