Inland oil spill regulations strengthened in legislation

 

The Sierra Club and Assembly Member Pedro Nava, D-Solvang, have sent a letter dated July 15 to the county board of supervisors, urging its support of Nava’s AB 1960, and of AB 2911 and 2912 by Assembly Member Lois Wolk, D-Vacaville, which Nava co-authored.

The letter asks the board to take “strong, serious action against Greka Energy when the matter comes before them.”

The letter continues, “Greka Energy has the dubious honor of being one of Santa Barbara County’s biggest polluters… out of 48 spills recorded over the last six months by our region’s six oil companies, 41 occurred at Greka facilities.

 

“Greka has spilled over 9,500 gallons of oil, discharged 150,000 gallons of processed water and deadly gases into nearby habitats and creeks, most of which drain into the Santa Maria River, which drains to the Pacific Ocean; threatened endangered species and human health, and experienced six facility shutdowns by state officials due to spills and equipment…It has become evident that fines alone won’t stem Greka’s reckless behavior…over the last few years, Greka has accumulated fines amounting to over $2.5 million,” according to the letter.

AB 1960 would require the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources to prescribe regulation and minimum facility maintenance standards for production facilities.

 

It would also charge the production facility operator a fee in an amount sufficient to reimburse the costs for implementing the requirements, authorize the supervisor to issue a cease and desist order if the facility is found to be in violation, and impose a life-of-well or life-of-production bond requirement on a “production facility operation that has a history of violating regulations related to a production facility or has outstanding liabilities to the state.” The measure would raise the maximum civil penalty from $5,000 to $25,000.

AB 1960 also would double the fine to $50,000 for any person who fails to provide the required report or who knowingly makes a false or misleading report on an oil spill in waters of the state other than marine waters. Existing law requires anyone who handles hazardous materials, upon discovery, to immediately report a release or a threatened release of a hazardous substance to the Office of Emergency Services, among other agencies.

 

AB 2911, which enhances the state’s ability to rescue wildlife contaminated in oil spills, and AB 2912, which focuses on strengthening the state’s preparedness and ability to respond to inland oil spills, were among seven bills in the package heard and approved by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee in April.