Q: What is the nature of Excelaron’s proposed project in San Luis Obispo County?
A: Excelaron is proposing to explore a designated oilfield in the remote hills of the private Mankins’ Ranch property. Although this existing oilfield has previously experienced limited oil production, advances in drilling and extraction technology may now make the field commercially viable. Excelaron has requested a permit to drill four exploration wells to assess the oil reserves in place and the field’s production capacity. If the field is determined to be commercially viable, Excelaron has applied for a total field expansion of 12 wells. Should oil production not be economically feasible, Excelaron has committed to cleaning and restoring the site to its natural habitat.
Q: How has the project proposal and description changed?
A: Due to public comment and community feedback, Excelaron has altered the traffic route to avoid Huasna Road and the City of Arroyo Grande. Trucks will now travel through the Mankins’ Ranch, south on Huansa Townsite, over Porter Ranch roads, to Alamo Creek Road, onto Highway 166 and then ultimately to Highway 101. Also in response to public requests, Excelaron revised its original project description to include projected project build-out beyond the exploration phase. The new project description in the EIR allows for 12 production wells, rather than the original four, to be brought onto production over the next five years.
Q: First Excelaron was trying to obtain a project permit using a Mitigated Negative Declaration, now you are preparing an Environmental Impact Report. Why didn’t Excelaron complete an EIR at the beginning?
A: The County of San Luis Obispo Planning and Building Department, after preparation of the Initial Study, determined that the project could mitigate all impacts to less than significant levels and issued a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the original project description for the four exploration wells. The County later requested, and Excelaron agreed to, preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in order to assess the potential impacts from future field expansion. This was done at the request of Huasna Valley residents.
Q: How does this project set a precedent for the business community?
A: This project has a very small footprint, occurs on private property, and can fully mitigate the potential environmental impacts. It is critical that the County continue to move forward in a timely manner to examine and permit this project without unnecessary delays or bureaucratic challenges. Inefficient processing of conditional use permit applications sets a precedent indicating that the County is not a business-friendly community. If small projects such as this continue to face unnecessary delays, businesses and economic investments will move elsewhere. Projects like Excelaron’s will bring positive economic activity, enhanced revenue and jobs at a time when this County faces record-high unemployment and critical shortfalls in local government budgets.
Q: What are the anticipated impacts from this project?
A: This project will have very little impact on the environment or local community. The project is located on private property, and the daily maximum of six trucks will travel mostly on private roads. The drilling sites are limited to a two-acre footprint within a 260 acre parcel of land. The oil production equipment will be tucked away in a valley hidden from public view. The project site is already an existing oilfield, resulting in little impact to the existing natural environment. The project would bring positive economic growth, jobs and revenue to the County and result in very little impacts to the neighboring community.
Excelaron is committed to fully examining the project through the EIR process to ensure that the potential impacts of the project are clearly understood, and appropriate mitigation measures are identified, as needed.
Q: How many jobs will be created by the project?
A: Initial reviews suggest that Excelaron’s project will create many jobs for our local community of varying lengths during the life of the project. The creation of jobs related to the project is projected to occur as follows:
Q: Is the oil equipment going to be located on the valley floor or change the aesthetics of the community?
A: Several pieces of equipment from the last oil exploration in the 1980’s are still located on the project site including tanks, pipes, and drilling equipment. While this above ground equipment will be removed by Excelaron upon issuance of a conditional use permit, it is currently mostly hidden from public view. The new project will go to great lengths to ensure there will be even less visual impacts. The majority of the proposed project’s equipment will be located on existing pads on the Mankins’ Ranch that are surrounded by hillsides that screen the project 360 degrees from public view. Any equipment on well pad two, the only portion of the project visible from Huasna Townsite Road, will be hidden by existing vegetation and painted with camouflage paint to blend into the hillside.
Q: Despite only using a small section of County roads, continuous trips will eventually impact road quality. How does Excelaron plan to mitigate road wear?
A: Excelaron has committed to pay a per truck fee that will be deposited into the County Road Maintenance Fund. Excelaron has requested that these road maintenance funds be spent solely within the Huasna Valley. Should the maximum estimate of six trucks performing a daily round trip be realized, Excelaron will pay an annual fee of $45,573 into the County road fund. Upon issuance of a conditional use permit, Excelaron has committed to pay Caltrans $4,500 for their fair share of improvements to the Santa Maria Bridge over Highway 101, $1 million to design and construct a left hand channelization lane at Alamo Creek and Highway 166, and approximately $200,000 to improve the County bridge at the end of Huasna Townsite Road. All road improvements will allow trucks from the Excelaron project to operate safely and efficiently while improving the local infrastructure for all County residents. Finally, all trucks will follow approved truck routes and avoid conflict with local traffic patterns and school buses.
Q: What plant life will be disturbed by the project?
A: Excelaron has gone to great lengths to ensure that there will be minimal disturbance to existing vegetation in and around the project site. Due to community concerns, Excelaron amended the original project description to exclude areas with Well’s Manzanita, a special status species. Additionally, only two oak trees, less than 5 inches in diameter, will be removed. 114 oak trees will require pruning, but will be preserved. To mitigate any oak tree impacts, Excelaron has committed to pay approximately $57,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Board, with that money being earmarked for San Luis Obispo County.
Q: What steps has Excelaron taken to mitigate air quality concerns?
A: Excelaron has committed to using Best Available Control Technology (BACT) equipment during the life of the project. Additionally, Excelaron has designed its facilities to reuse all the project’s by-products including any water and gas, thus resulting in fewer air quality impacts. Excelaron will also reduce dust created from truck trips by applying gravel and EPA approved dust suppressants to project roadways.
Q: Will Excelaron’s activities exceed local noise ordinances?
A: In an effort to ensure minimal impact for surrounding land owners, Excelaron has committed to a number of mitigation measures for noise levels. Construction noise may exceed thresholds only temporarily, and best available mitigation measures will be applied. During normal operations, any noise generated will be below County threshold levels. Both Excelaron and the Huasna Valley Association have commissioned reports by acoustical consultants. These reports were submitted for peer review by Marine Research Specialists, the firm selected by the County to conduct the Environmental Impact Report.
Q: What steps will Excelaron take to ensure fire safety?
A: Excelaron has worked with CalFire staff and will employ all necessary steps to ensure that the project site is protected from fire hazards. Vegetation will be pruned to minimize the existing fuel sources. Additionally, Excelaron will install three 10,000 gallon fire water storage tanks with CalFire approved hydrants at each project location and equip all production facilities with a fire suppression system. All truck routes will be approved by CalFire, and the Porter Ranch access road will provide improved access to Huasna Valley for emergency access.
Q: Why has the old drilling equipment sat on the site for so long?
A: Despite some commonly held beliefs, there are no current code violations on the site. Old equipment and idle wells onsite are the result of inadequate oversight by state and county agencies. As a result of Excelaron’s permit application, long forgotten wells and equipment are now being properly addressed.
The Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) is responsible for any below-ground remediation, which involves plugging and abandoning six orphaned wells on the site. DOGGR will remove any underground equipment in the wells such as tubes or rods, and properly plug the wells at multiple intervals, seal and regrade the area to its natural state. These DOGGR activities are being paid for by the Orphaned Well Program – a fund financed through an oil and gas producers’ tax.
If Excelaron obtains a conditional use permit, it will be responsible for any above-ground cleanup activities. This will be partially funded by an existing $20,000 County-held bond funded by the previous operator. Excelaron has also agreed to take responsibility for any surface remediation. If Excelaron does not obtain the requested conditional use permit, any above-ground remediation will be the County’s responsibility.
Q: How has the public responded to the proposed project?
A: There are many local supporters for the project, including several Huasna Valley residents, local business organizations, and community members. As with most business development in the region, there is a group of residents that are concerned with the project’s local impacts. Because these concerns are largely based on misinformation and a misunderstanding of the nature and scope of the project, Excelaron is working diligently to provide accurate information to interested parties. Please see our website at www.excelaron.net. The proposed project is very minimal in scope, would have a very small impact on the local community, while providing jobs and revenue to the County.