No hearings have yet been scheduled in Mendocino or Humboldt counties on a new five-year plan for oil and gas development on the outer continental shelf that now includes the first-ever offshore oil drilling off the two counties.
A hearing has been scheduled at the University of California-San Francisco”s Mission Bay Conference Center on Thursday, April 16.
Locals are already discussing chartering at least one bus to take people down to give testimony.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Congressman Mike Thompson sought to get that hearing held locally instead of San Francisco (where no drilling is proposed). Drilling is now proposed off Northern California beginning in 2014.
Minerals Management Service hearings in Fort Bragg and Eureka in the late 1980s are remembered as one of the most dramatic events in local environmental history.
Now, local offshore oil drilling is back on the table, perhaps without local opportunity for comment. Efforts to clarify whether more hearings will be scheduled before with the Interior Department were unsuccessful before presstime.
Salazar added six months to the public comment period for a new five-year plan for oil and gas drilling on the outer continental shelf and environmental impact statement preparation. The deadline for public comments is now Monday, Sept. 21. The Bush plan had called for the entire process of comment to be complete by March 23.
The current five-year plan is in effect between 2007 and 2012. Under the regular process, a new plan for oil and gas development would have been proposed by 2012.
“However, the Bush Administration”s midnight action accelerated by two years the regular process for creating a new plan for the outer continental shelf,” Salazar said. “It opened up the possibility for oil and gas leasing along the entire eastern seaboard, portions of offshore California, and the far eastern Gulf of Mexico — with almost no consideration of state, industry and community input and, in the case of the Atlantic coast, with very limited information about the nature of offshore resources.”
Salazar has been making regular announcements as his cooperative and comprehensive energy plan has emerged.
But Salazar only extended the Bush administration plan, not killing it as has been incorrectly reported widely in several major newspapers and on several TV news shows.
One of the most controversial elements of the new five-year plan is drilling off the Mendocino and Humboldt county coasts.
An investigation by this newspaper found overwhelming opposition to that idea and very little support for drilling locally. None of the five major oil companies specifically asked to drill off Northern California.
A Minerals Management Service spokesman admitted that idea had been added in by the administration itself, and was not prompted by the 150,000 public comments.
The original plan promised a hearing in either Fort Bragg or Ukiah during the preparation of the environmental impact statement for the drilling plan. It is unclear if that hearing will still be held or not.
So far, just four regional meetings have been announced.
The meetings will be held in Atlantic City, N.J. on April 6, in New Orleans on April 8, in Anchorage, Alaska on April 14, and finally in San Francisco on Thursday, April 16.
While nothing has been said that rules out a local meeting, the language of the press release from Salazar”s office makes it sound as if these may be the only hearings during the extended public comment period.
“If persons cannot attend in person, or are unable to speak at the meetings, they are welcome to submit written statements, comments or documents, either at the meeting or during the extended public comment period,” the Interior press release said.
Written comments can be submitted at the meetings or electronically at www.MMS.gov, “Five Year Program,” “How to Comment,” or by mail to Ms. Renee Orr, Chief, Leasing Division, Mineral Management Service, MS 4010, 318 Elden St., Herndon, VA 20170-4817.
Thompson comments
Thompson”s letter to Salazar articulates many of the local reasons for opposition to drilling.
“My district … is home to one of the four most productive upwelling systems in the world which are vital for the health of the world”s fisheries. The incredibly diverse marine and coastal ecosystems in my district bring biological and economic benefits to the entire country.
“Drilling activity off the remote, rocky and pristine coast of my district could cause serious harm to a largely undisturbed ecosystem, the abundant marine life within it and the coastal economies that depend on it. Because most of this coast is uninhabited and there are few ports, response capability in the event of a spill is limited at best. In addition, fierce winter storms and frequent seismic activity in this area only serve to amplify the risks of accidents in the event of oil drilling or transport,” Thompson wrote.
Why drilling offshore Mendocino and Humboldt?
The MMS”s John Romero also provided information about where the public can read more about the sources of information that MMS used to identify Northern California as a prime area for oil production.
Information on the Point Arena Basin can be found in National Assessment reports, prepared by the Interior Department”s U.S. Geological Survey and Minerals Management Service. The National Assessment is a mandated inventory of the nation”s known oil and gas resources.
The 2006 National Assessment can be found at: http://www.mms.gov/revaldiv/RedNatAssessment.htm.
Romero said additional information on Point Arena Basin can be found in the Central Province section of the 1995 National Assessment at http://www.mms.gov/omm/pacific/offshore/na/pdfs/c-calif.pdf.
