The County Planning Commission unanimously approved 56 new oil and gas wells on a property in Garey (just outside Santa Maria), which will employ cyclic steam injection. The project’s emissions are just under 10,000 metric tons per year, a standard the supervisors used last fall to limit the emissions of Santa Maria Energy’s 136 cyclic steam injection wells. Expected to produce 1,600 barrels of oil daily, the planned operation by Bakersfield-based PetroRock LLC has raised some eyebrows among neighbors and environmentalists; county staff has said all issues can be mitigated.
