There has never been an oil hearing in Santa Barbara county quite like it. Early on the Wednesday morning of March 13, a large crowd of opponents of ERG's oil project gathered in front of the county building in Santa Maria and rallied starting around 8:30 AM – and then they stayed all day long. After the staff presentation on ERG’s proposal to drill 233 oil wells through the Santa Maria groundwater basin, public comment finally commenced at 1:00 PM and went on for four and a half hours. 85% of the people who spoke were opposed to the project. They represented just a small portion of the hundreds of written comments, the thousands of postcard signers, and the 40+ organizations who signed a group letter opposing ERG’s plans.

ERG is the first of three large Cat Canyon projects near Santa Maria seeking permits that would triple onshore oil production in the county drilling through our largest and most important groundwater basin using cyclic steaming, a particularly energy-intensive processes with high well-casing failure rates and air pollution emissions. These projects will determine the future of oil in Santa Barbara County as they would lock in increased production for the next 40 to 50 years.

Commenters brought up ERG’s history of oil spills and fires, the risks to groundwater and 99 sensitive species, the 153 tanker truck trips per day, the hazardous materials and natural gas pipeline supplying the project’s steam generators, ERG’s bankruptcy and shaky financials, a myriad of problems with the environmental impact report and the need to transition away from fossil fuels, rather than building out new oil infrastructure. Meanwhile in the audience, employees of Aera, owned by Exxon-Mobil and Shell, observed and plotted strategy. Aera wants to drill another 296 wells adjacent to the ERG project site, an even larger and more invasive project to come.

The county Planning Commission reconvened in Santa Maria on March 27 where they asked staff pointed questions on the many issues that had been raised and many more people commented in opposition. After much back and forth, the commission adjourned, asking that staff come back with answers at a hearing on May 29. “This is probably one of the most important decisions I’ll make in my life,” commented John Parke, Planning Commission Chair.

Help ensure they make the right decision to deny ERG’s project by sending an email to the commission (dvillalo@co.santa-barbara.ca.us) and showing up at the May 29 hearing, a key decision-making hearing that may determine the future of oil in Santa Barbara.

As Nick Welsh, Executive Editor of The Independent puts it, “Oil D-Day in Santa Barbara Approaches.”