Environmental groups were granted permission on Jan. 12 to intervene in a lawsuit by Phillips 66 against the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission, which in October denied the company’s proposal to construct a crude oil train terminal in Nipomo.
The Sierra Club, Communities for a Better Environment, Environmental Defense Center, Center for Biological Diversity, Surfrider Foundation, and Stand.earth are now joining the lawsuit. The court ruled that those groups would join the lawsuit to “continue to participate in and protect the environmental review process” related to the Phillips 66 project.
The Planning Commission denied Phillips 66’s proposal after nearly a year of hearings, which ultimately determined that the site for the oil train terminal contains rare and valuable habitat protected under the California Coastal Act, as well as local policies and ordinances.
In a press release from the Environmental Defense Center, the center said state law requires that in order to challenge the Planning Commission’s decision, Phillips 66 would have to go through an agency appeals process before going to court. Phillips did appeal the Planning Commission, but also filed a lawsuit simultaneously.
“In their application to intervene, the environmental groups expressed concern not only about the potential environmental risks, but also the integrity of the public review process,” the release said.
Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Environmental Defense Center, added in the release that the Planning Commission’s decision “should be handled through the normal agency appeal process, not the courts.”
According to the release, the environmental groups plan to file a motion asking the court to dismiss the case as premature. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Feb. 16.
This article appears in Jan 19-26, 2017.