tranquillon ridge
The Environmental Defense Center, on behalf of our clients Get Oil Out! (GOO!) and Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara (CPA), executed an historic and unprecedented agreement with Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP) on April 9, 2008. In 2004, PXP had proposed to slant drill from an existing platform (Irene) -- located in Federal waters and currently producing oil and gas in the Pt. Pedernales Unit -- into the Tranquillon Ridge oil and gas field. In response to opposition from EDC and our clients, PXP agreed to end dates for all of its existing oil drilling operations offshore Santa Barbara County. PXP also agreed to fully mitigate the project's greenhouse gas emissions and protect significant lands in Santa Barbara County. Specifically, the following benefits will result from this Agreement:
- The Tranquillon Ridge Project will include an “end date” which will prohibit any extension of the life of existing oil and gas operations;
- PXP’s existing oil and gas operations will be shut down. PXP will phase out oil and gas production operations in the County, both offshore near Pt. Arguello and Pt. Conception and onshore near Lompoc and Gaviota;
- The three Pt. Arguello platforms will be shut down in 9 years and the Gaviota onshore processing facility will be removed;
- Platform Irene and several hundred acres of onshore oil and gas production will be shut down in 14 years and the Lompoc Oil and Gas Plant (LOGP) will be removed;
- All direct greenhouse gas emissions from the Tranquillon Ridge Project will be mitigated or offset, resulting in carbon neutrality;
- PXP will donate an additional $1,500,000 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the County; and
- PXP will convey approximately 3,900 acres of land to The Trust for Public Land (TPL), including approximately 3,700 acres adjacent to the Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve in the Lompoc Valley and up to 200 acres on the Gaviota Coast, for the benefit of the public.
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| Santa Barbara County Energy Divison Map |
references
Tranquillon Ridge Fact Sheet
EDC's Statement on Attorneys' Fees Agreements
The History of EDC & the Tranquillon Ridge Project
Frequently Asked Questions
Lois Capps' Statement to State Lands Commission
Maps
Santa Barbara County Energy Division
PXP Assets
Gaviota Lands
Lompoc Orientation
EDC Press Releases
February 10, 2010
Environmental Groups Respond to Governor's Proposal to Include Tranquillon Ridge in State Budget: Groups Continune to Work on Revisions to Plan to End Oil
January 8, 2010
Environmentalists Support State Reconsideration of Plan to End Oil: Gov Budget Would Preserve Existing Requirement for State Lands Commission Approval of Tranquillon Ridge Proposal
January 27, 2009
Environmental Groups Urge CA State Lands Commission to Support Deal to End Offshore Oil Drilling
October 7, 2008
Environmental Groups Celebrate Decision that will Phase Out Oil Development and Protect Lands in Santa Barbara County
April 10, 2008
Environmental Groups Announce Landmark Agreement to Limit Oil Development & Protect Lands in Santa Barbara
