Elk Hills Early Transfer

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

ELK HILLS EARLY TRANSFER

California's Governor, Pete Wilson, approved the state's first early
("dirty") transfer of contaminated federal property on December 1, 1997:
the sale, by the Department of Energy, of the 37,000-acre Elk Hills
Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 to Occidental Petroleum for $3.65 billion!

Ironically, the first California application of Section 334 of the 1997
Defense Authorization Act is not a military base closure. Consequently,
it may not set a precedent for how the state will address future
proposal for early transfers.

At least three other characteristics of this transfer distinguish it
from other potential proposals:

1) The sale is likely to bring the state an immense tax windfall once
Occidental starts pumping and marketing oil from the site.

2) The intended use is continued management as an oilfield, not exactly
a place where one expects a pristine environment.

3) Elk Hills is located in the southern San Joaquin Valley, not noted
for the high level of environmental awareness and activism found
throughout much of California.

It's of course of great concern that this approval was made before any
of us on the outside knew it was pending. A second proposal, a 25-acre
transfer at Mather Air Force Base, is now under consideration by
regulators, local officials, and a private business. That proposal
should be carefully reviewed by the Restoration Advisory Board and other
community interests.

Source: California Base Closure News, December, 1997.

Lenny Siegel
Director, SFSU CAREER/PRO (and Pacific Studies Center)
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@igc.org