The Santa Maria City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to approve a resolution supporting a plan to truck crude oil through the area.
In 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 pipeline operated by Plains All American Pipeline.
Plains has proposed the construction of a replacement pipeline to transport crude oil from southern Santa Barbara County to processing facilities in Santa Maria and Maricopa, but in the meantime, ExxonMobil is asking the county for permission to truck the oil to those locations.
ExxonMobil’s proposal would include as many as 70 truck trips per day.
In its resolution, the city council cited the jobs and tax revenue that the company’s operations provide to the area as reasons for supporting the oil trucking plan.
Santa Barbara County officials are considering the two proposals by ExxonMobil and Plains All American.
In January, the San Luis Obispo City Council passed a resolution in opposition to the projects.
