Transfer of ownership to Sable Offshore could reactivate pipeline running underneath Buellton
In its Thursday, Feb. 13, meeting, the Buellton City Council voted to draft a letter of appeal to Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors over the transfer of pipeline permits granted to Sable Offshore by the County Planning Commission.
Vice Mayor Elysia Lewis attended the meeting remotely, with City Manager Scott Wolfe explaining that by emergency Brown Act rules, she would be able to participate in the meeting despite not being present.
The County Planning Commission granted the pipeline permits allowing the transfer of the pipeline from Exxon Mobil to Sable Offshore. This would allow Sable to re-activate the pipeline running through the city, subject to other approvals from state agencies. A significant question that remains unanswered is what, if any, testing, repair, or re-alignment of the existing pipeline will need to be completed to ensure the safety of the pipeline. This question is a central point of the appeal to the Board of Supervisors.
District 1 City Councilmember Hudson Hornick recused himself from the item because of his status as a county employee, so it was up to Silva, Lewis, and District 3 Councilmember John Sanchez to debate the item.
The subject has been raised in previous Buellton City Councils meetings by residents Larry Bishop and Len Fleckenstein, who both also spoke at the Feb. 13 meeting.
“What I am hoping what the city will do is appeal to the county and even the state to do whatever they can to stop the startup of this pipeline,” Bishop said. “This remedy is important to us because it goes under our city and is unsafe; there’s a lot of corrosion issues they’re not addressing and haven’t addressed for 35 years.”
Fleckenstein spoke later, encouraging the City Council to support the appeal, and also to convince officials to reroute the pipeline around Buellton.
“I ask that the city insist on the oil industry making good on Exxon’s own proposal in 2017 to change the alignment for the pipeline to go around Buellton,” he said. “Residents of the city expected the pipeline to be relocated. The City Council should reject this bait-and-switch scheme by the oil companies.”
Bishop and Fleckenstein were two of four speakers on the item, all of whom supported the appeal of the transfer.
Going back to council, Lewis had mixed feelings about the item.
“I want to be cognizant of the fact that we need to protect our residents, but I don’t want to cut off my nose to spite my face,” she said. “We get a lot of tax revenue, for our city and our schools, from the products these companies produce.”
Silva said he had concerns about the pipeline through personal experience.
“My No. 1 concern is safety for our city,” he said. “I grew up in Santa Maria’s Sunrise Hills where there were
houses built on sumps and caused health problems although they were up to code.
“It gives me pause that we have a pipeline up to code for 1989. It’s not much to ask council to have this position not to have crude oil running though town.”
However, Sanchez said the city should stay out of it.
“I don’t think we should get into this fight,” he said. “For the safety things that happened, they have check valves now. [Sable] is going to be protective as anyone for that. They’re going to take good care of it.”
However, Lewis and Silva both answered that the city should at least make a statement to let people know where they stand.
“What message do we send if we don’t even give our input,” Silva said. “We can’t sit here and there will be no leak. I’drather take that position, we owe it to our city.”
“I prefer not to take a stance,” Sanchez said.
Silva eventually made a motion to submit a letter supporting the appeal, and Lewis seconded. The motion passed 2-1, with Sanchez appealing.
The City Council will meet next on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m.
District 4 Special Election ratified
As part of its Consent Calendar for the Thursday, Feb. 13, meeting, the Buellton City Council passed three items to establish a Special Election for the District 4 council vacancy. The seat became vacant when District 4 City Councilmember David Silva was elected mayor in November.
The council voted in the Jan. 23 meeting to establish a special election for the seat when the remaining councilmembersdeadlocked on appointing to the seat to either Carla Mead or former Mayor Dave King.
The election will be mail-in only and take place on Aug. 26 for a partial two-year term. The nomination period will run from May 5 through May 30.
To run for City Council District 4, you must be a registered voter in District 4. The Buellton District Map can be foundat cityofbuellton.com/government/district-elections/. To take out candidate papers, please contact City Clerk Linda Reidat lindar@cityofbuellton.com or call (805) 686-7424 to schedule an appointment.
VOTER REGISTRATION
To be eligible to vote at the Mail-In Special Election on Aug. 26, you must be registered to vote no later than Monday, Aug. 11. For more information regarding voter registration or to obtain a vote-by-mail ballot, visit countyofsb.org/164/Elections
