— The Goodland Outlook, Edition 33 — October 17, 2016
Foreword:
This Outlook contains important information on two matters that are vital for Goleta:
- This Wednesday’s (10/19) hearing in Goleta about Venoco’s proposal to extend its drilling outside its current offshore lease.
- Election information about how Goleta will select its mayor and endorsements that will affect Goleta. There are only about 21 days until Election Day and voting by mail has already started for many people.
Details:
Venoco’s Extended Drilling Proposal
This Wednesday, October 19 California’s State Lands Commission will hear public comment on Venoco’s proposal to drill outside its current offshore lease to include the entire Ellwood Field. To ensure public input, the meeting will take place twice, at 3 and 6 p.m., in the Goleta City Council chambers. People can comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). Suggested talking points are listed at the end of this Goleta Outlook.
And you can learn more by reviewing the recent story in the SB Independent, click here.
Also: see below for more information.
Election Information Ballot Item C2016 To Change The Way Goleta Selects Its Mayor.
The Goodland Coalition says “Vote no on C2016” because there is no need to change the current method, as so well discussed by Goleta’s first Mayor, Margaret Connell, in her recent column which you can view here: http://tinyurl.com/zc2fxcx .
We were pleased to see agreement by Andy Caldwell’s News-Press October 13, 2016 opinion column when he opposed measure C2016 by saying it would “…empower, the mayor of Goleta to make all appointments to boards, commissions and committees…Concentrating power and authority into one politician’s hands creates a power vacuum for the rest of the elected officials and is the perfect recipe for abuse behind closed doors.”
Other Key Endorsements
Since our previous edition’s endorsements for Goleta City Council, we were heartened that the Santa Barbara Independent agreed on the importance of voting for BOTH Stuart Kasdin and Kyle Richards, noting: “The two candidates pushing the pause button hardest are Stuart Kasdin and Kyle Richards, who we think would bring some necessary balance to a government body otherwise too quick to say yes to developers and too slow to impose conditions designed to protect the environment and ensure affordability.” [SB Independent, 10/6/16]
You can view the Indy’s other endorsements for Goleta City Council, 3rd District Supervisor, and Goleta Water Board with which we agree, here: http://tinyurl.com/hgo5ckt
Just to recap, The Goodland Coalition is proud to make the following endorsements: Goleta City Council: Kyle Richards & Stuart Kasdin To see a new Goleta Grapevine column on the importance of electing both Kyle Richards and Stuart Kasdin, click http://tinyurl.com/gqbqszu
- 3rd District County Supervisor: Joan Hartmann
- Goleta’s Proposed Measure for an elected Goleta Mayor (C2016): Vote NO
- Goleta Water District Board: Lauren Hanson, Rich
More information concerning item 1 above regarding Venoco’s expanded drilling application: Draft EIR Talking Points On Venoco South Ellwood Expansion Project – Prepared by EDC, Sierra Club, GOO!, CPA, [10/14/16]
The EIR should disclose the following facts:
- Venoco seeks to drill into the California Coastal Sanctuary
- This would be the first new or expanded oil lease in State waters since the 1969 oil spill
- Expanding the existing lease would violate the settlement agreement between ARCO (Venoco’s predecessor), the State, the County, and the Sierra Club, in which ARCO quitclaimed this area in exchange for additional drilling rights near Long Beach
- The area to be quitclaimed does not overlie any portion of the South Ellwood oil field; thus the project would simply add 3,400 acres of new oil and gas leasing (i.e., there is no benefit of 431 “net” acres being protected)
- Venoco wants to process the oil and gas at the Ellwood Onshore Facility, despite the fact that the site was re-zoned in 1990 for recreational use, and such processing would violate the City of Goleta’s General Plan and Zoning Ordinance
- We agree that the project would result in many “Class 1” significant and unavoidable impacts. Given the dangerous and risky nature of the project, the EIR must pay special attention to the impacts associated with the following:
- Extending the life of Platform Holly and associated facilities
- The full life cycle of oil and gas drilling, production, processing, refining, transportation and combustion
- The numerous endangered and threatened species, important habitats and vulnerable ecosystems (including the University’s Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve and the State’s Campus Point Marine Protected Area) that would be affected by an oil spill
- The adjacent uses that would be impacted by oil spills, gas leaks, air pollution and other risks, including nearby neighborhoods, Ellwood School, Sandpiper Golf Course, Haskell’s Beach, Ellwood Mesa, Highway 101 and frontage roads, Isla Vista, and Devereux
- The difficulties responding to an oil spill, as evidenced by the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill
- Consistent with a previous Draft EIR for this proposal, the EIR should use a “zero emission threshold” for greenhouse gas emissions
The EIR analyzes only one alternative, in violation of CEQA. The EIR must analyze a range of alternatives, including clean energy alternatives that would provide the same resource without any of the adverse impacts and risks.