US Judge Upholds Denial of Exxon Permit for Crude Oil Trucking in California, Says Reuters

By Clark Mindock

A U.S. judge recently upheld a California county’s decision to prevent Exxon Mobil Corp from using tanker trucks to transport oil from coastal facilities to inland refineries while a damaged pipeline is under repair.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee, based in Los Angeles, dismissed Exxon’s request to overturn the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors’ denial of a trucking permit issued in early 2022. The judge noted there was significant evidence indicating that transporting crude oil by tanker trucks could pose safety risks on state highways.

Judge Gee emphasized that while Exxon has the right to operate its offshore oil platforms and related infrastructure, it does not have an inherent right to transport oil via truck during the pipeline repairs.

Exxon has argued that it needs to utilize multiple tanker trucks daily to ship oil through Santa Barbara County until the pipeline, which ruptured in 2015 and caused a major oil spill, is replaced. The company contends that trucking is crucial for restarting three offshore oil platforms and an onshore processing facility that have remained inactive since the incident.

Responses from Exxon and the county regarding the ruling were not immediately available.

The ruling did not delve into Exxon’s claims that the board’s decision constituted an unconstitutional taking of property, along with other constitutional issues, which will be addressed in future court proceedings.

Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and local organizations that had joined the lawsuit in support of the county’s decision, praised the outcome. Attorney Linda Kropp, representing these groups, criticized Exxon’s trucking plan as “reckless, dangerous, and totally unwelcome,” highlighting the potential risk to the community from oil tanker accidents.

Exxon filed a lawsuit in May 2022, asserting that the board’s denial was a “prejudicial abuse of discretion.” The company alleged that the board had predetermined to reject their application, effectively creating a “de facto ban on crude oil production and transportation.”

Additionally, Exxon claimed that it has the right to resume oil production due to its substantial investments in the region dating back to the 1970s. When Exxon halted offshore production from its three platforms in the Santa Barbara area, the output from those rigs was estimated at around 30,000 barrels per day, representing a small portion of California’s total daily crude oil consumption of approximately 1.7 million barrels.