Coastal Commission to oppose offshore fracking off Ventura Play

The California Coastal Commission will answer a battle call from the White House today over “drill baby drill” in the ocean just 33 miles up the coast from Zuma Beach.

A small oil company wants to use fracking to squeeze more crude out of the depleted oil field under an aging offshore platform nine miles off of Ventura. This is the first fracking proposal off California in more than a decade.

The proposal will be decided on by the federal government. Today, California’s Coastal Commission will vote on opposing it at its meeting in Santa Cruz.

The oil platform — Platform Gilda — had a projected lifespan of just 20 years, but it was built 45 years ago. Right now, Platform Gilda pumps 1,100 barrels of oil per day ashore.

Fracking would quadruple that, by injecting a mix of chemicals into the seabed, pulverizing the layers deep below the sea bottom and forcing oil to the wells. These chemicals are toxic. Fracking frequently results in the chemical stew leaking into the surrounding environment.

California's Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot calls this an attack on California's coast.

“Hundreds of miles are beautiful coastline to let all Californians to get out and recreate however they want,” Crowfoot said. “This is what makes California great and it is under threat.”

Crowfoot says the president wants oil drilling from Mexico to Oregon.

“The Trump administration has recently proposed a review of our Coastal Management Program, which is the key way that coastal communities and state agencies figure into proposed federal activities that affect our coast,” Crowfoot said. “At the same time, the Trump administration is pressing aggressively to expand offshore drilling for the first time in 40-plus years, as well as deep-sea bed mining and other industrial activities.”

A federal judge has ordered the fracking to stop until the federal government completes an environmental impact review. The Trump administration is rushing that study, citing President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency brought about by the war with Iran.

The Commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. in Santa Cruz. You can watch it on YouTube.