HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/15/2019 Item 7, Christie - Sierra Club
Christian, Kevin
From:Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club <sierraclub8@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, January 15, 2019 2:05 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Comment on Agenda Item #7
Attachments:LoS_Resolution opposing Plains_Exxon.doc
Please include the attached as correspondence for tonight’s City Council Agenda Item #7, resolution opposing oil
pipeline and trucking.
Thank you,
Andrew Christie, Director
Sierra Club, Santa Lucia Chapter
P.O. Box 15755
San Luis Obispo, CA 93406
(805) 543-8717
1
January 15, 2019
Mayor Harmon & City Council
City of San Luis Obispo
990 Palm Street
San Luis Obispo, California
RE: 1/15/19 Agenda Item #7: A Resolution opposing a proposal to truck offshore oil along Santa Barbara,
San Luis Obispo, and Kern County highways and to oppose a proposal to build a coastal oil pipeline
servicing aging offshore drilling platforms.
Dear Mayor Harmon and San Luis Obispo City Council,
We are writing in support of the Resolution “opposing a proposal to truck offshore oil along Santa
Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Kern County highways and to oppose a proposal to build a coastal oil
pipeline servicing aging offshore drilling platforms”.
The Plains All American Pipeline disaster dumped over 120,000 gallons into California’s coastal
environment, killed an estimated 640 marine mammals and birds, and contaminated shorelines over 90
miles away. A jury found the company guilty of failing to maintain its pipeline and criminally liable for
the spill. Given all this, Plains absolutely should not be allowed the opportunity to cover our beaches in
oil yet again.
ExxonMobil’s proposal to put 70 tanker trucks carrying nearly 500,000 gallons of crude oil onto San
Luis Obispo County roads every day is negligent and dangerous. The extraordinarily high rate of
accidents makes trucking an incredibly dangerous way to transport oil. These accidents cause fires,
explosions, injuries, deaths, and property destruction and spill thousands of gallons of crude oil onto
roads, vegetation and into waterways.
If either ExxonMobil or Plains’ project is allowed to move forward, several aging offshore drilling
platforms will begin operating for the first time since the 2015 spill. Three of these platforms — Heritage,
Harmony and Hondo, operated by ExxonMobil — have a long history of accidents and failed inspections.
We shouldn't have to choose between coastal oil pipelines and oil tanker trucks on coastal highways. Both
are dangerous, and neither belongs in a County that understands the threat posed by fossil fuels to our
oceans and coastal communities. Denying Exxon’s and Plains' projects is consistent with San Luis
Obispo’s history of opposing the expansion and transportation of oil to protect public health and safety, as
well as the environmental and climate.
Sincerely,
Miyoko Sakashita
Oceans Program Director
Center for Biological Diversity
Andrew Christie
Director
Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club