Robert Rivas told his colleagues at the March 14 San Benito County Board of Supervisors’ meeting that he had only recently learned that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is conducting three public meetings regarding oil and gas leasing in the region. He said one was being held in Coalinga during Tuesday’s meeting and another would be held at San Juan Oaks Golf Club on Wednesday, March 15. The first of the three public meetings took place at Ft. Ord last week.
“The purpose of these meetings is to address oil and gas leasing and development on 793,000 acres of a federal estate that includes San Benito County,” Rivas said, adding that up to 37 wells on 207 acres will be analyzed. “There are some restrictions on these public lands, like our national park, but what makes this unique in our region is, obviously, our county in 2014 passed Measure J, which regulates the development of oil and gas.”
Rivas said he thought it was important to draft a letter on behalf of the entire board to be delivered to the BLM meeting.
“The letter basically is to make sure BLM is aware that we have local zoning regulations and restrictions for some of this oil activity,” he said.
Supervisor Mark Medina commented that having the county weigh in was a “no-brainer” because of Measure J. Supervisor Jerry Muenzer commented that in his experience in working with other counties and dealing with the federal government, it is imperative that the county voices its concerns about BLM’s intentions for federal lands in the county.
“We insist that they’re compatible with our other land uses and policies in San Benito County,” Muenzer said. “Our voices are strong individually as supervisors, but if we are speaking as a board, it’s that much stronger.”
Natasha Wist commented that in the present political climate it is becoming increasingly clear that unless citizens take charge of local governments and work together to get “what the people want, we’re going to get run over like a Mack truck.” She said she was astounded when she looked at the BLM website.
“Within a few weeks of the (presidential) inauguration, the fossil fuel companies came directly to the Bureau of Land Management in San Benito and Monterey counties and immediately put through a new environmental impact report,” she said. “The report supposedly was supported by an bias-free environmental analyst company—and of course it was hired be the fossil fuel industry—and they’re wanting to put fossil fuel and fracking and deep-well injection back into our public lands.”
Wist wondered how this could be done since the county passed Measure J.
“San Benito County is a gold mine for the frackers,” she continued. “They haven’t even begun to get their hands into this county. Apparently, there have been amendments under the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) since the new administration, which allows wiggle room for these oil companies to delay and confuse the people. We’ve got to get together and preserve our beautiful county. It doesn’t have a lot of people, but it has tremendous beauty and resources, which should be used for sustainable energy, and not for fracking.”
Larry Rebecchi said he talked to BLM three years ago as a proponent of Measure J to have local control and preserve the beauty of the area. He said BLM officials at that time stated that it was the norm for them to honor whatever the local people wanted for their community. He said he would be at the BLM meeting Wednesday in Hollister to provide his support.
Aromas resident Andy Hsia-Coron, a vocal opponent of fracking in San Benito County, said the issue was not just about BLM land.
“In our region, much of the land is privately owned, but BLM owns the mineral rights beneath that land,” he said. “If they were to give out these leases, the oil companies could come onto these lands and develop the oil without the approval of the local landowners.”
He said that San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties all passed restrictions on fracking and oil development because of common interests in agriculture and tourism, as well as protecting the land and water.
“I urge you to share this strong letter with the Bureau of Land Management,” he said.
San Benito Rising, a group that supported Measure J and is against BLM leasing land for oil and gas exploration, has scheduled a “Resist Trump’s BLM protest rally” at 3:30 p.m., prior to the 4-6 p.m. BLM meeting at San Juan Oaks.
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