County Supervisors Robert Rivas and Anthony Botelho stood with Measure J supporters Tuesday and vowed to defend the county against Citadel Exploration’s $1.2 billion claim.
Voters approved Measure J in the Nov. 4 election with nearly 59 percent supporting the initiative to ban enhanced oil extraction such as fracking, cyclic steaming and well acidizing.
“It is the responsibility of this county to defend Measure J,” said Rivas, who called the claim “frivolous.”
Citadel two days after Measure J’s passage filed the claim, a necessary precursor to a lawsuit. The company behind the Project Indian oil field was proposing the cyclic steaming extraction method – banned starting Jan. 1 under the initiative – in the Bitterwater area near Pinnacles National Park with plans for up to 1,000 wells.
Citadel submitted the claim through email to Barbara Thompson, an attorney in the county counsel’s office, in a letter dated Nov. 6. It contends the company could have recovered 20 million to 40 million barrels of oil over the project’s life. At $80 a barrel, where oil prices have been hovering lately, 20 million barrels would be worth $1.6 billion.
Rivas, the first county official to endorse Measure J, noted how the no side funded by oil companies outspent supporters by about $2 million while the initiative passed with nearly 60 percent of the vote.
“San Benito voters sent a very strong message to oil companies,” Rivas said. “And that message was, we do not support fracking or other high-intensity methods here in San Benito County.”
Rivas said oil interests “decided to turn their backs” on the community after the election results. He called the $1.2 billion claim “absurd.”
“This, after they helped run a campaign about protecting our way of life,” Rivas said. “They helped run a campaign about how they were going to help fund our public schools, about how they were going to help fund our public library. Now they want to sue us for $1.2 billion. I want our local residents to know this frivolous claim is just that. It’s frivolous.”
Rivas mentioned how the county in 2013 approved up to 15 exploratory wells for Citadel. Rivas and the four other supervisors unanimously OK’d the Citadel exploratory wells at a June 2013 meeting during an appeal hearing – board members denied the appeal – of the planning commission’s prior approval.
“The project was just that,” Rivas said. “It was a test.”
He said the oil company may have violated environmental laws after a Monterey County judge ordered Citadel to halt its exploratory work in August.
“This county is going to do the right thing,” he said. “We’re not going to be bullied.”
Botelho took the microphone next and told the crowd he ran for supervisor to protect the county’s “agricultural heritage and quality of life.” He also said he supports property owners having “broad discretion” on use of land.
“But not at the uses that degrades properties and around them the well-being of the community,” Botelho said.
He stressed that Measure J “does not prohibit oil or gas exploration or extraction” throughout the county. A provision in the measure bars all petroleum activities in rural residential zones surrounding the two cities, and Botelho said oil interests can continue using “safe and scientifically proven techniques.”
Andy Hsia-Coron, one of the leaders for the Protect San Benito group behind Measure J, referenced statements by Citadel CEO Armen Nahabedian about domestic oil production. Citadel spokesman Robert Parry could not be reached immediately for comment on the press conference.
“He has said repeatedly that we have a choice of either killing over there or drilling over here,” Hsia-Coron said of Nahabedian. “I characterize that as a choice between homicide and suicide. I think we have better choices here in San Benito County.”
