An attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity hopes to have Citadel Exploration’s exploratory well shut down by Aug. 27, but the oil company is already looking ahead toward fully developing its field in southern San Benito County.
Kassie Siegel, attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, was unhappy late last week when she heard Citadel went ahead and pumped oil from an exploratory well, despite a Monterey County judge’s recent ruling against the company’s effort.
The judge last month ruled that the San Benito County board failed to properly weigh potential impacts through a full environmental impact review – officials bypassed the process in favor of a less time-consuming mitigated negative declaration – when supervisors in June 2013 approved the Project Indian well site.
Citadel at the Project Indian site plans to possibly use steam injections to extract oil. It is one of the extraction methods included in a proposed ban against high-intensity petroleum-pumping practices before voters on the November ballot.
“I was very surprised and perturbed to hear about their actions,” said Siegel, Climate Law Institute director for the center.
Citadel’s spokesman responded by pointing out that the company had already drilled the well and went forward on the first phase before a potential full-field development.
Citadel on Wednesday announced it had been pumping oil for the first time from its exploratory well and that the company had been preparing to do a full environmental impact report for the “several hundred” wells it planned to drill in the field.
“They want us to undrill it?” Citadel spokesman Robert Parry said regarding the exploratory well. “We’ve drilled a well. We conducted exploratory activities.”
Parry characterized the July court matter as the judge’s “intent to rule” at the next hearing, as there were no official orders put in place.
“The judge basically said, ‘Here’s what I’m thinking,’” Parry said.
With regard to the lawsuit, the petitioner argued the county failed to properly analyze potential issues with the well such as water use, greenhouse gas emissions, threats to the California condor and runoff into the Salinas River.
Siegel said she hopes one of two things will happen with regard to a scheduled 1:30 p.m. Aug. 27 court hearing in Monterey County:
“We will have agreement and action from the other side that that well will be shut down and secured by Aug. 27 or on Aug. 27 the court will order that to be done,” Siegel said.
She said her top priority is to “get that well safely shut down.”
The question is whether that may be too late as far as Citadel is concerned. Parry said Citadel planned to comply with the court order.
“All we did was establish whether there are grounds to do a full EIR,” he said.
