Chevron officials came to Fort Bragg on Tuesday to answer questions about wave energy and to explain why the company worked 18 months in secret before filing a claim off the town of Mendocino earlier this month.
Raymond Cunningham, Mendocino project manager for Chevron, provided evidence the oil giant is serious about wave energy and intends to invest in an extensive community process and costly research.
Chevron has tidal energy devices in the water in Alaska and is working on filing other wave energy claims, including off nearby communities.
While Chevron is looking at nearby points that jut out into the ocean which have a proximate substation, such as Point Arena and Pigeon Point, he wouldn”t say exactly where the next filing would be.
“Let me just say the next place on my list is a place where if I do not first address the community openly and explicitly, there will be negative implications … You will know about it by reading the media accounts,” Cunningham said.
But why the local secrecy which included not even telling city or county officials?
Cunningham made arguments to the group, which included Cindy Arch, Jim Tarbell, Rob Cozens and George Reinhardt, for the company”s need to be mum about planned filings.
He described how two overlapping claims were filed in Humboldt County within 24 hours of each other, a situation Chevron wished to avoid. He told of investor groups looking to speculate and somehow “flip” claims.
The locals understood, if not totally agreeing with the secrecy argument.
“From Chevron”s point of view, secrecy is essential and appropriate. From our community”s point of view, secrecy is annoying and potentially terrible. This is a tension we will have to live with,” said Reinhardt.
Cunningham described how Chevron would need to get permits from state, federal and local agencies. He said it wouldn”t proceed without local blessing.
“If all the stars line up and the community is not engaged or supportive, I can”t see how this can progress,” Cunningham said.
While Cunningham and Kim Copelin, head of public relations for Chevron Technology Ventures, marveled at the beauty of Mendocino, that wasn”t what attracted the filing.
Waters off the Mendocino Coast get steep quickly, meaning wave plants can be closer to shore than in many areas, where cables would have to be stretched seven to eight miles offshore. That, plus good local wave heights, which are moderate by world standards, and the availability of a substation plug into the grid onshore were all described as important factors.
Chevron”s claim begins exactly where PG&E”s ends, at Point Cabrillo and extends just south of Little River. Cunningham painted a picture of the two companies working together and emphasized that while the filing represents something like a mining claim, it can”t really be sold to another party.
While Cunningham impressed the group with his knowledge of the issue, he didn”t seem to grasp why many local people cringe at the word “Chevron.”
“I am particularly proud to work for Chevron ? My experience is I have never been embarrassed or had any second thoughts from what I have seen inside the company ? I go to bed at night and feel good about what we do,” said Cunningham.
Cunningham said there was no “firewall” between the oil company and its alternative energy subsidiary. He said one reason Chevron likes the development of wave energy is that overcoming the technical challenges could benefit the work in all its divisions.
“The fact of the matter is that we all benefit from petroleum exploration,” he said.
Chevron officials called all five Mendocino County supervisors and all five Fort Bragg city councilmembers, offering to answer questions after the filing, but the only meeting requested was from Supervisor Kendall Smith, who had a Wednesday meeting scheduled with the Chevron pair. Smith plans to raise the issue of wave energy at the next Ukiah Board of Supervisors meeting and hopes to have the matter on the agenda at a September coastal board meeting.
Chevron sent two of its two officials to Fort Bragg because of extensive questions by Reinhardt and interest following publicity in the Advocate-News and The Mendocino Beacon. They also were contacted with questions from Congressman Mike Thompson”s office, but not other locals.
“I have many concerns. Turf wars. Corporate secrecy. Environmental degradation. A fishing industry overwhelmed. A community bedazzled,” said Reinhardt after the meeting.
“It appears that they are serious and not just place holding.” Their studies will begin on viewsheds, environmental impacts and feasibility. The community must now really begin to get informed and involved,” Reinhardt said.
