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<div class=Section1>
<h2><font size=5 color="#4a4a4a" face=Georgia><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>Oil,
gas seeps fouling Santa Barbara Channel : Panel of experts weighs in on
possible solutions <o:p></o:p></span></font></h2>
<p class=byline><font size=1 color="#565656" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:8.5pt'>JEREMY FOSTER, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-element:frame'><font
size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:
Verdana;color:#464646'><img width=250 height=179 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image001.jpg@01C8C595.51E832F0" class=box align=center border=0><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=250
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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-element:frame'><font
size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Mike DeGruy speaks to the crowd at the
Natural History Museum during Saturday's public forum, "Oil in the
Channel: Contentious Solutions."<br>
ROBBY BARTHELMESS/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;mso-element:frame'><font
size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:
Verdana;color:#464646'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:
Verdana;color:#464646'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>June 2, 2008 6:59 AM<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>When Dr. Bruce Luyendyk, professor of marine
geophysics at UCSB, showed a current aerial view of the Santa Barbara Channel
at a recent town hall meeting, the audience was surprised to see its beaches
looking anything but pristine.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Along the channel was contamination caused
by seeps -- areas where oil and gas deposits rise up through rock fractures
beneath the seabed -- which appeared as black oblong shapes in the coastal
waters.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>One of the consequences of seeps is an
iridescent sheen on the water, wherever a thin film of oil is present. Oil also
washes up along the shorelines as tar balls.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>About 100 people showed up for the public
forum "Oil in the Channel: Contentious Solutions" on Saturday
afternoon at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Moderated by
award-winning filmmaker Mike DeGruy, the discussion was led by a panel of
experts who weighed in on what -- if anything -- should be done about the seeps.
Opinions were diverse, and the discussion spirited.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Dr. Luyendyk, one of a handful of
researchers at UCSB studying Coal Oil Point seeps, gave a brief presentation on
the history of seeps and their impact on the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>He traced the discovery of seeps, all the
way back to 5000 B.C., to the Chumash Indians, who used tar from seeps to
waterproof canoes, baskets and water bottles, and to make tools and jewelry. In
1792, British explorer George Vancouver was one of the first to log oil slicks
in the Santa Barbara Channel. His and other explorers' discoveries led to the
first offshore oil production in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>, along the coastline of
Summerland, in 1896.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>In 1941, oil seeps were first documented in
Coal Oil Point. Soon after, studies of these fissures in the ocean floor began
rolling out of academia.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>What scientists have learned since, Dr.
Luyendyk said, is that seeps -- not offshore oil spills -- are responsible for
most of the oil mucking up the beaches along the Santa Barbara Channel.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>For example, he added, seeps off Coal Oil
Point near UCSB put an average of 4,200 gallons of oil into the ocean every
day.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>To put that number in perspective, Dr.
Luyendyk noted that in a span of "five or six years" the amount of
oil that comes out of these seeps equals "an Exxon Valdez oil tanker
spill," the disaster that dumped 10.8 million gallons of oil into the Gulf
of Alaska in 1989.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>And oil is not the only thing seeping from
the seabed. Natural gas bubbles up from the same fissures -- approximately 100,000
cubic meters per day.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"That translates into about 3 million
cubic feet a day," Dr. Luyendyk said. "Your typical household uses
250 cubic feet of gas a day."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Bruce Allen, a physicist, was on hand
representing a local group called SOS (Stop Oil Seeps) California, whose chief
concern is the seepage from the ocean floor and the pollution it creates in the
environment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>For an environmental group, his organization
advocates an unorthodox way to deal with the seeps.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>The orthodox way, some would say, is getting
oil rigs out of the ocean.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"There is significant evidence oil
extraction can reduce oil seepage," he said, referring to a 1999 UCSB
study that found links between offshore oil production and decreased seepage.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Dr. Allen alluded to research suggesting that
offshore oil spills are responsible for less contamination than natural oil
seepage, and encouraged people to be more open-minded to the idea of extracting
oil from the ocean as part of an effort to reduce oil contamination of the
environment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"The public is unaware of the magnitude
of natural seep pollution," he said. "They don't garner the same
attention major oil spills do 0xc9 and that's something we want to educate the
public about.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"There's a potential synergy we can
take advantage of. We can reduce dependence on foreign oil, reduce tanker
traffic, expand on alternative energy and clean up the environment."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Expanding oil production through offshore
drilling, he said, would generate $1.6 billion a year for <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>,
and $330 million a year for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Santa
Barbara</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
alone.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"In three and a half years we could
afford to build a solar thermal farm and provide electricity for every resident
in the county of Santa Barbara," he said, "and to provide (every
resident) in four years a $10,000 credit to buy a hybrid vehicle."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Michael Chiacos, energy program senior
associate for the Santa Barbara-based Community Environmental Council, brought
a different perspective to the discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"We need not invest in energy of the
past," he said, "which any oil executive will tell you we're going to
run out of. We need to stop hunting and gathering for the little pockets of oil
and gas and begin harvesting wind, solar, geothermal energy."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Mr. Chiacos said mounting more oil platforms
in the ocean is a "supply-focused" strategy. And the supply of oil,
he said, will eventually run out. "We can't drill our way out of this
problem," he insisted.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"I'd like to propose the main source of
oil that we have in our county is actually beneath our feet, not in the ground
but in our conversation and efficiency," Mr. Chiacos continued.
"Europeans use half the petroleum that Americans use on a regular basis.
And we know what a great county <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>
or France is."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Characterizing his position on how to deal
with the oil seeps as neutral, Dr. John Day, a planner with the Santa Barbara
County Energy Division, warned of comparing natural oil seepage to oil spills.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"Oil seeps have relatively little
impact, and spills can be absolutely devastating," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Dr. Day argued that natural oil and gas from
seeps are released gradually, allowing the currents and natural mixing to
dilute their concentrations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>The impact of a major spill, however, can
blanket the sea surface of a large area with fresh oil, he noted. Unlike oil
and gas seepages, large oil spills kill large numbers of animals including sea
birds and marine mammals, he added.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Mr. Chiacos added: "A solar panel on
your roof is not going to cause a great deal of harm, whereas if you have a
spill off the channel, as we saw in 1969, it can have devastating impacts on
our environment."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Dr. Day also questioned the idea that
increasing oil extraction is linked to decreased seepage. He acknowledged that
seepage rates near Platform Holly, an offshore rig in the Santa Barbara Channel
operated by Venoco Oil Company, have declined significantly since 1973, but
said supporting a hypothesis and proving one are two different things.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"You can't say anywhere you drill
you're going to reduce seepage," Dr. Day said. "It depends on the
location of area being drilled, how many faults it has and how fractured it is.
Just because in one case you have a reduction in one area doesn't mean you can
extrapolate from that a categorical rule," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Despite those arguments, Dr. Allen said new
technology was making oil extraction environmentally safer. He also reiterated
his point that the money raised from oil extraction expansion would give us the
financial means to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and move toward Mr. Chiaco's
society of conservation and alternative energy.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>Dr. Day remained skeptical.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>"The Energy Division is concerned about
doing adequate environmental review. My analysis on oil seeps and oil spills is
that there is that there is a greater risk from oil spills," he said.
"And it's up to the community to decide whether that risk is worth
it."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#464646" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#464646'>e-mail: jfoster@newspress.com<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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