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Environmentalists Protest Against Expansion Of Oil Trucking On South Coast

A large group of environmentalists rallied at the steps of the county administration building in Santa Barbara prior to a meeting by county planners.

They came out last night chanting against oil: "No Exxon, no drilling, no pipelines, no trucks!"

Exxon Mobil wants permission for 70 truckloads of oil a day to flow from it Las Flores Canyon Facility west of Goleta.

This comes as a result of the ongoing problems with the Plains All-American Pipeline, which has remained broken since a rupture in May 2015.

Blake Kopcho is an organizer with the Center for Biological Diversity, who says that trucking oil is dangerous: "Oil truck accidents cause fires and explosions; they injure and kill people, they spill hundreds of gallons of crude a year."

Exxon says it has a safe transportation plan and this proposal will create new jobs.

The county will make a decision early next year.

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