Carpinteria Oil Drilling Initiative, 2010
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A Carpinteria Oil Drilling Initiative may appear on the June 8, 2010 ballot in the City of Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County, depending on the results of a lawsuit. The initiative is also known as the Paredon Initiative and the Carpinteria Community Initiative.[1]
The initiative as written would approve a slant-drilling project proposed by Venoco. This project involves the installation of a drilling rig along Carpinteria’s coastline.
Supporters of the initiative submitted a statement of intent to collect signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot in February 2009. This would normally trigger a responsibility on the part of the city's attorney to prepare a ballot title to be used on the initiative as it is circulated for signatures.[2]
However, Peter Brown, the city attorney, said that he would not do so because he believes the initiative is "is inconsistent with city guidelines, contains vague and false statements, and would circumvent the environmental review process." This led to Veneco filing a lawsuit, where they asked a judge to order Brown and Carpinteria to comply with the legal requirements to put a ballot initiative on the ballot.[3],[4]
The petition for signatures will not be circulated until the City of Carpinteria provides a legal ballot title for the measure, as it has now been ordered to do by a judge. The earliest that the initiative can appear on a ballot, given the delays caused by Carpinteria's refusal to authorize a ballot title for the measure, is 2010.
Project Paredon
The project that would be the subject of the ballot initiative is known as Project Paredon. The centerpiece of the project is a 140-foot drilling rig that would be installed at Venoco’s Dump Road processing facility.[5]
The drilling rig would allow extended-reach, or slant, drilling, which would allow access to oil and natural gas in the Santa Barbara Channel without building an offshore platform.[5]
Veneco has been working on plans for the Paredon Project since 1999, when it purchased the Dump Road processing facility from Chevron.
Financial benefits
If the drilling venture is successful:
- Venoco will contribute $1 million a year for five years to the Carpinteria Education Foundation.
- It will also donate 22 acres of land on its 55-acre Dump Road parcel as permanent open space.
- The State of California stands to gain $1 billion from the drilling platform; it would give Carpinteria $200 million of this.
Lawsuit
Timeline
- In April, Santa Barbara Superior Court trial judge Thomas Anderle granted Brown and the City of Carpinteria a stay pending a hearing.
- The hearing was held on July 28.[3]
- In early August, Judge Anderle announced that he was denying a request from Carpinteria to keep the ballot initiative off the ballot.
- Judge Anderle ordered City Attorney Peter Brown to draft language for the ballot measure by September 1.[6]
- On August 10, the Carpinteria City Council voted 4-1 to appeal Judge Anderle's ruling.
Costs
Efforts by the City of Carpinteria to keep the measure off the ballot have cost the city more than $180,000.[7]
External links
- Text of the Paredon Initiative
- Website of the Carpinteria Community Initiative's supporters
- Website of Venoco Inc.
References
- ↑ Santa Barbara Independent, "Carp voters to decide fate of oil project", July 30, 2009
- ↑ Noozhawk, "Judge Stays Venoco’s Voter Initiative in Carpinteria", April 29, 2009
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Daily Sound, "Oil-drilling initiative heading to trial", April 29, 2009
- ↑ Noozhawk, "Carpinteria Throws Wrench into Venoco’s Drilling Initiative Plan", February 19, 2009
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Noozhawk, "Venoco Initiative Drive Gives a New Slant to Project Approvals", February 5, 2009
- ↑ Noozhawk, "Carpinteria to Appeal Ruling on Venoco Ballot Initiative", August 11, 2009
- ↑ Noozhawk, "Carpinteria Legal Fees Reportedly Top $180,000 in Venoco Challenge"
