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Speak Up About Dangerous Onshore Oil Project in Santa Barbara County

Right now, Santa Barbara County is facing a massive expansion in oil production using much dirtier and more dangerous extraction methods such as cyclic steam injection and acidizing. If approved, these three risky projects proposed by ERG, Aera Energy, and PetroRock, would drill 760 new wells in the Cat Canyon Oil Field near Santa Maria. These projects would more than triple oil production in Santa Barbara County and derail any hope of a clean energy future for our community. EDC and our client, Sierra Club Los Padres Chapter, have been working since 2017 to protect our community from the threats posed by these three projects, but today we need your help fighting ERG’s Project – the company that is farthest along in the administrative review process.

On Wednesday, March 13 at 9:00AM, the Santa Barbara Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on ERG’s Project. Please join us and tell the Planning Commission to deny the Project and protect our climate, air quality, water resources, and public health. ERG is proposing to drill 233 new thermally enhanced, steam injection oil wells, producing an estimated 10,000 barrels of oil per day.

WE NEED YOUR VOICE!

1. Attend the Hearing: Urge the Planning Commission to Deny ERG’s Project

Wednesday, March 13, 2019, 9:00AM
Betteravia Government Center
County Administration Building
511 East Lakeside Parkway, Santa Maria

You can also provide your comments via teleconference from the Planning Commission Hearing Room located at 123 E. Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara.

** Join EDC and our partners for a rally before the hearing!
8:30AM in front of the County Administration Building

2. Send a comment letter to the Planning Commissioners at [email protected] by March 11, 2019 at noon.

Please consider the following talking points in your comments to the Planning Commission urging them to deny ERG’s dangerous and dirty proposal.

• The Project’s Final Environmental Impact Report is inadequate and cannot be certified. It fails to accurately inform the public of the scope and magnitude of the Project and fails to identify many significant impacts that remain unknown and unmitigated.
• The Project will require millions of gallons of local freshwater for drilling, construction, and operations over its projected 40 year life, depleting the groundwater basin that provides local communities with water for drinking and agricultural operations.
• If approved, over 150 oil tanker trucks will transport oil between Kern and Santa Barbara counties on local roads and highways, each day, posing serious risks to public safety and degrading our roads.
• Spills of oil and wastewater will threaten water quality and destroy sensitive wildlife habitat.
• Cyclic steam injection is a highly carbon-intensive method of oil extraction that will increase air emissions and contribute to climate change. We cannot achieve the 11-year mandate to reduce global carbon emissions if the County approves oil development that will last for at least 40 years.
• The project will impact 99 protected species that occur onsite, as well as wetlands, oak woodlands, grasslands, and coastal sage habitats which support threatened and endangered species.
Thank you for speaking up to protect our community’s health and safety from the threats of this Project. It is time we all focus on a clean energy future.

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