Ojai loses bid to delay 20-year permit for oil operation as county board splits 3-2

Ventura

This flare is part of the petroleum operation near Ojai.

A petroleum production facility near Ojai will be allowed to continue operating for another 20 years under a split decision Tuesday that followed an effort of more than a year to settle air quality and traffic issues.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to deny an appeal from the city of Ojai to block the approval until an additional study could be completed. The decision means the owner, Bentley Family Limited Partnership, has permission to operate up to nine wells at the facility at 12540 Creek Road and use a flare that burns produced gas full time.

Supervisors Kelly Long, Bob Huber and John Zaragoza voted to deny the appeal after a heavily attended public hearing in Ventura. Supervisors Steve Bennett and Linda Parks wanted to extend the time period for study as Ojai city officials had requested.

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Zaragoza normally sides with Bennett and Parks on environmental issues. But he said he was hard-pressed to vote against the project in face of the support from an Ojai Valley advisory panel, county planning staff, the Ventura County Planning Commission and approvals from air pollution control, fire and transportation officials.

“I am really torn apart on this issue,” he said.

The Bentley partnership started operating the flare full time instead of on an emergency basis about 15 years ago when it lost access to a pipeline that had been used to carry natural gas to market, officials said. Representatives said the operators have curtailed production of natural gas, but the wells still produce it as a byproduct that must be eliminated.

Full-time operation of the flare was not allowed in the land-use permit issued by the county, so in the view of some opponents, it should not be legalized now.

“Is this board going to continue 15 years of illegal activity?” asked Robin Gerber, chairwoman of Citizens for Responsible Oil & Gas or CFROG.

The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District issued a permit for the flare roughly six years ago, but administrator Mike Villegas said that was done in error. The district presumed the flare was allowed under the owner’s land-use permit but should have checked with the county, he said.

Planning officials have said the only major change in the permit is the conversion of the flare from emergency to full-time use. Ojai City Manager Steve McClary told the board that is a major difference.

“It’s analogous to using a spare tire for full-time use,” he said.

Ojai City Attorney Matthew Summers argued that a new environmental impact report is required because there are only three wells operating now so nine is a substantial change.

But county planning staff found no reasons to deny the modified permit.

Planners said no new impacts were found on noise and traffic, and that the effect on air quality was less than significant. Requiring the company to build a pipeline would not be economically or practically feasible, planners said.

The cost of building a new pipeline would range from $2.9 million to $4.4 million, planning officials said. The gross revenues from the oil and gas operations totaled $76,000 in 2015, officials said.

A variety of alternatives has been studied but none was feasible, according to Neal P. Maguire, an attorney for the partnership.

He said the Bentley partnership does not own the pipeline and that it is not operable. The partnership has taken the required actions to ensure safety, he said.

The Ojai Valley is governed by the most stringent regulations in the county on air quality. But the flare produces emissions that at a maximum are well under those limits, Villegas said.

The limit is 5 pounds per day for each of the two types of emissions that combine to produce ground-level ozone, he said.

Steven D. Colome, who is on the advisory board of CFROG and an unpaid consultant to the city of Ojai, said the analysis should be done for operation of all nine wells. He puts the figure at 20 pounds per day if that was done.

Tests did not show elevated risks for cancer or either acute or chronic diseases that are not carcinogenic, Villegas said.

The calculations all ran well under 1. If the figures exceeded 10, a deeper analysis would be completed, he said.

Residents said they were also concerned about traffic from the project.

The primary truck route would go from the project site to Creek Road to Highway 33. Transportation officials have said the highway is a legal truck route and that it is safe to turn left if proper precautions are taken. No accidents involving Bentley tanker trucks have occurred in 30 years, according to a previous report.

John Brooks of Oak View showed a video of the intersection where trucks turn and said an evaluation is needed based on current conditions. He said there had been 125 accidents at the intersection of Highway 33 and Creek Road over a 10-year period.

“Good fortune is the reason for no tanker crashes,” he said.

About 50 people turned out for the meeting. They were about evenly divided between supporters and opponents.

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