Measures A&B, on the ballot in Ventura County in the Primary Election this June 7th, would close a loophole that allows oil companies to skirt modern laws that protect public health, precious water supplies, our public lands, and the environment.
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Thousands of oil wells in Ventura County operate under “antiquated” permits issued up to 75 years ago, before environmental and human health impacts were known and long before bedrock environmental laws existed. Hundreds of these wells have been drilled within and adjacent to Los Padres National Forest in the Sespe Creek watershed and near Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. Others are dangerously close to drinking water supplies and communities like Ventura, Ojai, Oxnard, and Fillmore.
ForestWatch and our partners worked together for years to enact sensible rules that would subject these old permits to greater transparency and environmental protections. Last fall, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to update oil drilling ordinances to the same modern health and safety measures other businesses follow. Unfortunately, the oil industry spent over a million dollars to launch a campaign, using paid signature gatherers, stopping the updates from going into effect. Measures A&B simply counter the oil industry’s campaign and reinstate the updates they had already passed.
Los Padres is the only national forest in California with active oil drilling. In the Sespe Oil Field, largely surrounded by the Sespe Wilderness—the largest Wilderness Area from Santa Barbara to the Mexico border, there are more than 200 oil wells drilled under “antiquated” permits. Issued between 1948 and 1976, most of these permits don’t have expiration dates or restrict the number of wells that can be drilled—or even fracked—and have never undergone environmental study under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) or the National Environmental Quality Act (NEPA).
Under current rules, when an oil company wants to drill a new well under an “antiquated” permit, it simply gets a zoning clearance by filling out a form and paying a $330 fee—much the same as installing a garden gazebo or hot tub.
The impacts that this unlimited and under-regulated oil development have on recreation, the environment, and precious water supplies can be enormous. The Sespe Oil Field is one of the most environmentally sensitive areas in Ventura County. It is right next to the Sespe Condor Sanctuary and the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, areas critical to the recovery of endangered California condors. It is bisected by Little Sespe Creek, a tributary to a federally protected Wild & Scenic River and habitat for endangered southern California steelhead. And the oil field is only SEVERAL hundred feet from the City of Fillmore’s only supply of drinking and irrigation water.
Oil waste injection wells can also be drilled and operated under “antiquated” permits. In the Sespe Oil Field, an oil company was caught dumping waste into an aquifer protected by the Safe Drinking Water Act. The primary reason the national forest was established in 1903—then called Santa Barbara Forest Reserve—was to protect and preserve the watershed.
“Antiquated” permits can allow new wells to be drilled next to streams. There are 149 active or idle wells within 100 feet of a “blue line” waterway in Ventura County, and hundreds more near seasonal creeks. Wells near these riparian areas put water quality at risk and degrade important habitat that countless species rely on for food and shelter.
If Measures A&B pass in June, all new oil development permitting will be subject to discretionary review. This will not shut down current oil drilling or stop new permitting. It means that new wells can be subject to public transparency and modern environmental review. A wide range of land uses in Ventura County are currently permitted through a similar process including wineries, day care centers, bed and breakfasts, schools, renewable energy production, and campgrounds. Discretionary review of these permit applications simply ensures that all current health, safety, and environmental requirements are met.
The oil industry is hoping that enough people vote “no” on these ballot measures so that they can continue to operate under rules from the 1950s. Don’t let them get away with this backdoor attempt to skirt modern-day protections for our public lands and the health and safety of our communities. ForestWatch joins a long list of Ventura County leaders, business, farmers, and residents in urging a “YES” vote on Measures A&B.
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