Channel Islands sanctuary should be protected, board says

Federal officials should not reduce the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary or issue any new oil and gas leases offshore, a county board said Tuesday.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors weighed in on the questions in light of President Donald Trump's executive order supporting use of offshore resources to increase the nation's energy independence.

Supervisors agreed to send comment letters to federal officials who are looking at the use of federal marine resources to increase domestic oil production.

No one in either the audience or on the board at its meeting Tuesday supported tampering with the marine sanctuary. The board voted unanimously to oppose reducing the preserve surrounding five of the eight Channel Islands.

Supervisor Peter Foy said in an interview that no oil reserves have ever been discovered in the sanctuary established in 1980.

The sanctuary encompasses 1,470 square miles of ocean water where marine life is protected. 

"It establishes refuges in the sea," said Kate Faulkner, retired chief of natural resources management for Channel Islands National Park.

The item on allowing new oil exploration offshore on the Outer Continental Shelf was controversial. The territory that extends from the coast and under the ocean is considered a productive source for oil. By a vote of 3-2, supervisors agreed to send a letter of opposition.

Supervisor Steve Bennett, who proposed sending comment letters on both items, voted for that item. So did Supervisors John Zaragoza and Linda Parks. But Foy and Supervisor Kelly Long, both pro-business Republicans, voted no.

Long said she supported taking care of the environment but also supported the economy.

"To cut off part of the economy, I don't think that is fair for constituents," she said. 

Bennett said he did not want to risk an oil spill and supported a plan finalized before Trump took office. It allowed no new offshore oil leases over the next five years, he said.

"New offshore oil and gas exploration is incompatible with Ventura County's thriving tourism and fishing economy, and is not consistent with the sustainable, green coastal economy of our economy," Bennett said in a letter to the board.

Public speakers came from both the oil industry and the environmental community.

"We should produce the energy we use in California right here in California," said Bob Poole, who represented the Western States Petroleum Association. "California imports over 60 percent of the energy we use."

Volunteers, children and representatives of the Sierra Club and the Surfrider Foundation supported the letters of opposition. They called for protecting the environment, tourism and jobs supported by the marine sanctuary.

Mia Lindsay, 8, of Ventura, put it simply.

"I love the beach and I love the animals and I don't want to see them in places where all the oil goes," she said.