The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted at its March 7 meeting to write to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, urging the SLO County board to oppose Phillips 66’s proposed rail spur project.
The project would allow Phillips 66 to import crude oil by rail to the company’s Santa Maria Refinery on the Nipomo Mesa. After months of contentious hearings and discussions, the SLO County Planning Commission denied the proposed project on Oct. 5, 2016. Phillips 66 quickly appealed the denial, and the SLO County supervisors will hear the company’s appeal starting on Monday, March 13.
The proposed oil trains would travel through Santa Barbara County, prompting the Santa Barbara supervisors’ to send a letter to the SLO supervisors back in September 2015, urging them to oppose the rail spur project. On March 7, the Santa Barbara County board reaffirmed its position.
At least, most of the board did—5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino was absent from the meeting, and 4th District Supervisor Peter Adam left the meeting during the item discussion, saying, “this issue is really not in our jurisdiction.”
Janet Wolf, who represents the 2nd District, spoke against Adam’s decision to excuse himself.
“Aside from the potential impact of rail derailment, our train tracks go right by San Marcos High School, three elementary schools, many businesses, many residential properties,” Wolf said at the March 7 meeting. “This does affect our county in numerous ways, so I’m sorry Mr. Adam is not participating in this discussion.”
Jefferson Litten, chief of staff for 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann, gave a presentation at the meeting explaining how the proposed rail spur project would affect Santa Barbara County. The project’s southern rail route would travel through Casmalia, Carpinteria, Summerland, Montecito, Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Guadalupe, putting areas of each community in the potential “blast zone” should an oil train derail.
In public comment, Lee Moldaver of the Santa Barbara County Citizens Planning Association said the rail project would pose risks not only to the county’s environment, but to its economy, as well. He pointed out that the railway would run through a part of the Vandenberg area, putting the Vandenberg Air Force Base—one of North County’s biggest employers—in the “blast zone.”
“The coastal resources, the view, the health, the safety of the South Coast area and Vandenberg area are essential to the strength of our economy, tourism, and our business,” Moldaver said at the meeting.
He called the project “high risk, low reward,” saying the risk “would be infinite,” but the reward would be “somewhere between limited and zero.”
Supervisor Das Williams, who represents the 1st District, agreed.
“I want an economy that is thriving, but also in step with our values as a community,” Williams said at the meeting. “I think that this proposed project is not in step with our values. It’s not safe.”
Williams, Hartmann, and Wolf all voted in favor of sending a letter to the SLO County Board of Supervisors urging the board to deny Phillips 66’s appeal.
This article appears in Mar 9-16, 2017.