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November 8, 2005
MALIBU OIL TYCOON SUBMITS PLANS
TO DRILL FOR OIL INSIDE CARRIZO PLAIN NATIONAL MONUMENT
Drilling
Could Open 3,500 Acres to Oil Development
Carrizo Plain, CA - A Malibu
oil tycoon has filed plans to drill an exploratory oil well
inside the boundary of the Carrizo Plain National Monument.
Richard D. Sawyer has filed a
Notice of Staking with the Bureau of Land Management, the agency
in charge of managing the monument. According to the notice, the
drill site is located in Wells Canyon, approximately one-half
mile inside the monument's southern boundary near the town of
New Cuyama.
The
Caliente Range rises from the proposed drilling site to a height
of over 5,100 feet in elevation, the highest point in San Luis
Obispo County. Photo
©
LPFW, Inc.
Before drilling can begin, the
BLM must first conduct an environmental review and release the
proposal for public comment. The BLM is required by law to
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, though officials
there have stated that they intend to proceed with a
less-rigorous Environmental Assessment instead.
A map
of the Carrizo Plain National Monument, showing the location of
the proposed drilling site.
Sawyer plans to drill the
well on one of seven leases he holds in the area.
Depending on how much oil is discovered, Sawyer could
decide to develop all 3,500 acres of his oil leases.
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The lease where drilling will occur contains
suitable habitat for several endangered wildlife
species, including the San Joaquin kit fox, the
blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and the giant
kangaroo rat. Construction of the well pad and
an access road could damage this habitat. |
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Blunt-nosed leopard lizard.
© G Nafis, californiaherps.com |
San Joaquin kit fox.
Photo courtesy CDFG. |
The 250,000-acre Carrizo Plain
National Monument was established in 2001 to protect one of the
last remaining untouched tracts of land in the San Joaquin
Valley. It also contains one of the largest concentrations of
threatened and endangered species in all of California.
The Presidential Proclamation that
created the monument prohibits any new oil leases inside the
monument boundaries, but allowed existing leases to be
developed. Sawyers' leases are among 18 "grandfathered" in when
the national monument was formed. The other leases are at three
locations within the monument and have already been drilled.
What's Next
The BLM expects to release an
Environmental Assessment and accept public comments sometime in
January 2006. ForestWatch will post the document on our web site
as soon as we receive it. If you would like to receive a copy of
the EA, send your written request to BLM Bakersfield Field
Office, 3801 Pegasus Dr., Bakersfield, CA 93308. |
