Santa Barbara County has released the final environmental impact report on ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks, which would allow the phased restart of three offshore and one onshore oil facility.
Exxon is proposing the “interim trucking of limited crude oil production” which would be conducted until a pipeline alternative becomes available to transport crude oil to a refinery or after seven years, whichever is shorter unless extended by the county, according to the report.
Crude trucks would load oil at the Las Flores Canyon facility, at 12000 Calle Real west of Goleta, and deliver it to either the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Pump Station or the Plains Pentland Terminal in Kern County.
Exxon’s three offshore platforms near Santa Barbara were shut down in 2015 following the Plains All American Pipeline oil spill. The estimated spill was more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil, including some 20,000 which made it to the ocean. More than 120 birds and 65 marine mammals were killed. Exxon’s Santa Ynez unit has also been shut down since the spill.
The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission will hold hearings on the proposed project on Sept. 2 and Sept. 9
