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AGENCY
APPROVES PLAN TO EXPAND OIL DRILLING IN LOS PADRES NATIONAL
FOREST
Forest Service Opens Up
52,075 Acres to New Drilling
Decision Threatens
Wildlife, Clean Water,
Wilderness, and Forest Recreation
ForestWatch Files an Appeal
to Halt the Decision;
Attorney General Also
Appeals to Protect the Forest
Agency Rejects Appeals;
Groups File Formal Notice of Intent to Sue if Agency Doesn't
Improve Protections for Wildlife
Groups File Lawsuit in
April 2007, Temporarily Halting
the Oil Drilling Expansion Plan
On
July 28, 2005, the U.S. Forest Service approved a plan that will
allow oil drilling to expand into some of the most pristine
areas of the Los Padres National Forest. The decision - nearly a
decade in the making - could cause widespread impacts to the
forest's clean water supplies, recreation, wilderness, and
wildlife.
The
oil drilling plan allows:
-
52,075
acres of new oil drilling areas in Santa Barbara and
Ventura Co
-
4,277 acres
of surface drilling
-
12,179
more
pounds per day of air pollutants
-
loss of up to 3,532
acres of suitable habitat for threatened &
endangered species
-
the killing of up
to "a few" California condors
-
17 million barrels
of oil likely to be recovered, less than a
day's supply
-
surface drilling
right up to the boundary of three
Wilderness Areas, plus the Sespe Condor
Sanctuary and the Hopper Mountain
National Wildlife Refuge
-
slant drilling up
to the boundary of the Sespe Wild & Scenic
River
Sources: USFS FEIS,
2005
USFWS Biological Opinion, 2005
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The agency's plan allows drilling to expand across three
areas of the national forest covering 52,075 acres in
Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
According to the agency, this new drilling will cause up
to 4,277 acres of surface disturbance, including oil
derricks and a network of roads, pipelines, transmission
wires, and other infrastructure.
The
Upper Ojai Valley, one of three areas
targeted for new oil drilling.
One of the new drilling
areas is in the Upper Ojai Valley, beginning in Horn
Canyon three miles from the Ojai city limits and
extending eastward towards the communities of Santa
Paula and Fillmore.
The second new drilling
area surrounds the upper half of Lake Piru in eastern
Ventura County. The third - and largest - drilling area
is located along the Sierra Madre Ridge in the Cuyama
Valley, in northeastern Santa Barbara County. |
A
proposed drilling area in Quatal Canyon in the Upper Cuyama
Valley.
The plan allows both surface
and slant drilling in this area. Photo
©
LPFW, Inc.
The plan places at risk some of
the forest's most popular recreation areas. Surface drilling is
allowed right up to the boundaries of three
Congressionally-designated wilderness areas, including the Sespe,
the Chumash, and the Dick Smith wilderness. The plan also allows
surface drilling within a few hundred feet of the San Rafael
Wilderness Area.
The
plan also allows drilling to occur next to some of the forest's
most sensitive habitat areas. New oil drilling could expand up
to the
 boundaries of the Sespe Condor Sanctuary and the Hopper
Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, areas that provide critical
habitat for the endangered California condor. There are
currently only 56 condors in the Los Padres National Forest.
Water and air quality are also threatened by the agency's
new drilling scheme. The plan allows slant drilling beneath a
stretch of Sespe Creek that is eligible for Wild & Scenic River
designation and is considered an "Area of High Ecological
Significance" by the agency. The plan also allows surface
drilling around the upper half of Lake
Piru, a lake that is already
 listed as "impaired" by the EPA.
Expanded oil drilling will emit 12,179 more pounds of air
pollutants per day, according to the agency.
In response to substantial
opposition from the public and State of California, the
Forest Service's final decision will not allow surface
drilling in roadless areas. While the Forest
Service's final decision is considered to be a victory for roadless
area protection, the plan still allows surface drilling to occur
right up to the boundary of these pristine lands.
Communities surrounding the
forest have overwhelmingly demanded that no new oil drilling be
allowed on our national forest. The agency received 7,830
comments from the public. A vast majority of these letters -
over 99% - opposed any new oil drilling in the national
forest.
UPDATE:
ForestWatch filed an appeal of this decision on September 15,
2005. Two other national groups - Defenders of Wildlife and the
Center for Biological Diversity - have joined in the appeal, and
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a separate
appeal.
In April 2006, the Forest Service
denied all of the appeals. ForestWatch recently sent a letter to
various federal agencies notifying them of our intent to file a
lawsuit. Unless the agencies make improvements to the plan this
summer, we will have little choice but to file a lawsuit to protect the forest.
In April 2007, on the heels of
one of the worst oil spills in the Los Padres in decades, a
coalition of conservation organizations led by ForestWatch filed
a lawsuit in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit alleges that
the plan violates several of our nation's longstanding
environmental protection laws, including the National
Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Air Act. This
lawsuit is currently pending and has temporarily halted any oil
drilling expansion. We will continue to update this site as the
lawsuit proceeds.
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