ExxonMobil lost its latest bid to transport millions of crude from shuttered offshore oil platforms off the central California coast to state refineries.
County supervisors were concerned about the possibility of oil spills and accidents along trucking routes and especially about traffic safety along State Route 166, a narrow two-lane highway across difficult terrain with few turnouts and passing lanes. ExxonMobil estimates 70 or so trucks would be used per day to move the oil.
The company sued the county in May 2022 after its permit denial, accusing supervisors of abusing their discretion and “improperly” considering the project as a referendum on offshore crude oil production instead of deciding the permit on its own merits.
ExxonMobil’s struggles began in Santa Barbara County after one of the pipelines owned by Plains All American Pipeline, broke in May 2015, spilling crude oil onto Refugio Beach and into the Pacific Ocean in one of the most biologically diverse areas of the West Coast.
About 143,000 gallons of crude spilled in the area, causing an immediate closure of seven offshore drilling platforms, closing multiple beaches, and impacting recreational activities.
ExxonMobil previously used two pipelines to move oil out of the county, but both were closed after the spill. The company also shuttered production in the county a month following the accident.
In September 2017, ExxonMobil asked the county for a permit to begin trucking about 11,000 barrels of crude oil every day to onshore processing plants in Santa Maria, north of Santa Barbara, or to Kern County, about 150 miles inland from Santa Barbara.
The company also wanted to restart a production unit in Santa Ynez—about 30 miles north of Santa Barbara—and three offshore platforms, and to reopen a processing facility in the area.
The federal judge declared that ExxonMobil did not have a vested right to transport the oil by truck, and the original permit didn’t guarantee transportation by any other means than a pipeline.
“Having considered the evidence in the record regarding traffic safety, the Court finds that the Board’s decision is supported by substantial evidence,” Ms. Gee wrote in the judgment.
Environmental groups cheered the judge’s decision.
According to a statement on the Environmental Defense Center’s website, it claims there have been eight serious accidents involving tanker trucks along the proposed route in the last several years, resulting in deaths, oil spills, injuries, fires, and road closures.
“Today’s decision puts the safety of our communities, climate, and coastlines first,” Ms. Krop said in the statement posted Sept. 27.
ExxonMobil did not return a request for comment on deadline.
