Governor Gets Port Drilling Measure
By John Canalis
LONG BEACH – A bill that would allow for additional onshore oil drilling in the Port of Long Beach and could potentially feed the cash-strapped city $130 million over 10 years cleared the state Assembly Sunday and headed to the governor’s desk for his signature.
Assembly Bill 2165 passed the Assembly 74-0 after a 38-1 vote in the Senate on Saturday. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can sign or veto the bill or do nothing and allow it to become law.
Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach, wrote the legislation that allows for new contracts to be written that could lead to additional exploration and drilling on port land in the Wilmington Oil Field.
The bill gives the State Lands Commission the authority to negotiate a contract with the city, Port of Long Beach and Occidental Petroleum Corp. to search for reserves and open new wells. A bill was needed in order to rewrite existing contracts that pass exploration costs traditionally paid by the state on to the oil company.
Occidental would assume a bigger share of the revenue in exchange for a larger share of the risk. In addition to the $130 million to the city, the bill could mean $150 million to the port and $200 million to the state over 10 years. Money to the public agencies would come from barrel, property and utility taxes as well as from oil revenues.
The western edge of the field below port land is home to about 500 active oil wells; additional drilling authorized by the bill could mean about 200 more.
The measure cleared the state Senate Saturday night after an intense lobbying effort by Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, who traveled to Sacramento to speak on its behalf. Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, also backed the bill.
“This is an excellent outcome that creates the opportunity for significant, long-term revenue increases for the city and the state,” Foster said Sunday evening.
A small group of environmentalists from Long Beach and the Los Angeles side of the harbor also traveled to the state Capitol to challenge the measure on grounds that it does not require a new environmental impact report. The Sierra Club was also opposed.
City officials have said an environmental review is not necessary since one was conducted in the area in the 1970s and that any new exploration and drilling would have to comply with modern air- and water-quality laws.
In addition, the bill does not allow offshore drilling or an expansion of the environmental footprint of the drilling area. Any drilling would also need to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act and South Coast Air Quality Management District regulations.
john.canalis@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1273
(c) 2008 Press-Telegram Long Beach, CA.. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.