How involved should Ventura County be in dealing with the regulation of hundreds of miles of major oil pipelines in the county?
County Supervisors are set to look at the question Tuesday.
The Ventura County Grand Jury says the county should be more involved, having county staff prepare an annual report on the oversight of the pipelines. County planner say while that’s possible, the county only plays a sidebar role, with state and federal agencies bearing the primary responsibilities for regulation.
During the last six years, there have been seven significant pipeline spills in the county of five barrels of oil or more. The largest was a June, 2016 accident in Ventura’s foothills which released about 700 barrels of oil. The cause of that accident is still under investigation.
There are more than 370 miles of oil pipelines in the county.
