San Benito County Supervisors Robert Rivas and Anthony Botelho held a press conference in front of the county courthouse Wednesday morning to address a $1.2 billion claim against the county by Citadel Exploration, an oil exploration company that helped fund the No on Measure J effort. Addressing local media in front of nearly 50 people holding signs, Rivas — the first supervisor to publicly endorse the measure that bans enhanced oil extraction techniques locally — said nearly 60 percent of voters “sent a very strong message to oil companies … that we do not support fracking or other high-intensity extraction methods here in San Benito County.
He said that while many thought that “the battle would have ended” on election day, Citadel “decided to turn their back on this election. They didn’t get the results that they wanted so now they say that the election didn’t really matter. I find it absurd that this petroleum company has filed a $1.2 billion claim against our county after they help run a campaign about protecting our way of life.”
Rivas called the claim “frivolous” and said that San Benito County “is not going to be bankrupted by Citadel.”
“The people of San Benito County should not and will not be intimidated by the bullying tactics of the oil industry,” he said, adding that Citadel has “not acted in good faith” after being granted permission to drill 15 test wells in the southern part of the county.
“It was their chance to prove to us that they could conduct themselves in a professional manner while operating their wells safely and according to state and local law,” Rivas said. “Unfortunately, they did not conduct themselves professionally.” A Monterey County judge in August ordered Citadel to stop its exploration efforts near Pinnacles National Monument and the court also found that the county failed to properly analyze the water usage, water pollution risks, greenhouse gas emissions, and threats to the California condor.
Rivas said it is the county’s responsibility to defend Measure J, which he called legal and defensible.
“The county is going to do the right thing,” he said. “We’re not going to be bullied; we’re not going to let empty threats derail the will of the majority.Elections matter and this community voted in record numbers on Nov. 4 to have their say.”
While Rivas said he believes Citadel would like to “erase this election” and pretend it didn’t happen, “the truth is, it did happen, and they lost. We’re going to fight this money grab and we’re going to win this.”
Botelho, who represents the agriculturally-rich San Juan Valley, said he believes that owners of private property should have broad discretion in how they use their land, “but not if that use degrades the properties around them and the well being of our community.” The apple farmer said he decided to support Measure J “because I was concerned that state and local regulations for fracking, steam injection and acidization of wells could not protect our small community from companies like Citadel.”
While the oil industry that bankrolled the No on J effort “clearly had an advantage” over the Yes on J effort because of funding, Botelho said, “The voters listened but rejected the oil industry’s message by a wide margin. The passage of Measure J is a historic event that will set our county on the right path. The time is now to move forward.”