Opponents of offshore oil drilling will hold a rally Wednesday in Santa Barbara to protest ExxonMobil’s proposal to restart three dormant offshore drilling platforms.
On June 16, 2015, ExxonMobil shut down its offshore oil platforms and its onshore Las Flores Canyon facility west of Santa Barbara due to the oil spill caused by the rupture of a Plains All American pipeline.
The oil company is now proposing restarting its facilities and trucking crude oil to refineries. Trucking would occur seven days per week, 24 hours per day, with as many as 70 trucks leaving the facility each day on their way to receiver sites in Santa Maria and Maricopa.
A scoping meeting for the project is being held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 11, in the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission Hearing Room, located at 123 E. Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara. It’s part of the process to gather public comment on the project.
The rally is expected to begin at 5 p.m. at the meeting location.
