2:22-cv-03225
Firm: O'Melveny & Myers
Issue Area: Environment, Climate, & Fossil Fuels
O'Melveny & Myers represents Exxon Mobil in its bid to temporarily truck crude oil from Exxon’s Santa Ynez Unit, which consists of three offshore platforms and one onshore processing center. Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors denied Exxon's request, and O'Melveny filed a petition in court to appeal the denial.
In its complaint, O'Melveny argued that Santa Barbara could not consider the environmental impact of the project. "The requested project would permit trucking on an interim basis for ExxonMobil’s Santa Ynez Unit (“SYU”), providing numerous benefits to the community. Rather than focus on the merits of the project, however, the Board improperly treated the consideration of the project as a referendum on offshore production as well as the transportation and use of crude oil in the County of Santa Barbara (the “County”). But that was not the issue before it. The only question before the Board was whether the project complies with federal, state, and local law. It does.