No to Tanker Trucks

On March 21, a tanker truck overturned on Highway 166 dumping an estimated 4,500 to 6,000 gallons of crude oil into the Cuyama River, putting wildlife and waterways at risk. As of March 27, the Oiled Wildlife Care Network has collected 13 live oiled animals, including a federally protected red-legged frog, and two dead animals from the site. Fortunately, this spill was contained before oil entered the Twitchell Reservoir, the water supply for Santa Maria, but this may not always be the case.

This is exactly why we can’t let the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approve ExxonMobil’s recent proposal to restart its dormant offshore drilling rigs and put an additional 70 tanker trucks a day on that highway.

After 142,800 gallons of oil spilled into the ocean during the 2015 Refugio oil spill, Exxon’s oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara County was shut down. Let’s keep it that way. Go straight to www.countyofsb.ord/bos for the Board of Supervisors contact info, and write one short sentence to say vote no on ExxonMobil’s dangerous proposal.