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Unocal
Point Conception Decommissioning Project
What's New
- Unocal
began decommissioning the Cojo Marine
Terminal and Point Conception
facilities in June 2004. Most decommissioning activities
were completed by Winter 2005, including:
1. Removal of the nearshore portion
of the Marine Terminal Loading
Line
2. Removal of the offshore portion
of the Marine Terminal Loading
Line
3. Demolition of the Marine Terminal
crude oil storage tank
4. Demolition of the Butler building
5. Removal of above ground storage
tanks at Government Point
6. Removal of above ground pipelines
at Percos Beach
7. Excavation and remediation
of contaminated soil at Cojo Point
8. Removal of pipe stanchions
at Percos Beach
9. Removal of exposed pipelines
between the well site and Government
Point
- Soil remediation and removal
of concrete and various piping
at Government Point
- Excavation and remediation of
soil at the former Pt. Conception
well site
Now that deconstruction has been
completed at all sites, long-term
pipeline corridor and revegetation
maintenance and monitoring is now
underway.
- As of January 2008, the following
activities were completed:
- The following activities
are still in progress:
* Revegetation progress toward
performance goals at Percos Beach
dune site is limited due to shifting
dune conditions and the colonization
of non-native plant species.
Long Term Site Maintenance
and Monitoring
- Revegetation areas
shall be monitored regularly by
Unocal and the County for a period
of approximately 3 years until
the performance criteria have been
met. Maintenance shall consist
of irrigation, weeding, replacement
of erosion control
devices and minimization of site
disturbance from existing land
uses. The County may recommend
maintenance activities throughout
the monitoring period.
- Unocal has posted a performance
bond with the County
and is required to conduct a pipeline-monitoring
program for a minimum of 25 years after project
completion to determine
if any of the remaining facilities become exposed
in the future. If necessary,
Unocal will then implement measures to restore
all erosion-damaged
areas. After 25 years the Santa Barbara County Planning
Commission shall review
the issue of facilities and equipment exposure and
determine if the Unocal
performance bond is still necessary.
Pre-Construction and Post-Construction Site Photos
In the fall of 2006, the Energy Division received
pre- and post-construction photo documentation for
the decommissioning of all three former Unocal Chevron
facility sites at the Cojo Ranch. Shown below are “before
and after” photographs of the three locations
( Cojo Bay, Government Point, and Point Conception)
that were once used to accommodate oil and gas production
facilities.
July 2003
View north of Government Point Production
Facility
showing storage tanks and production
well equipment
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October 2006
View north of Government Point Production
Facility
following abandonment of the facilities
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View south of Point Conception Well Site
showing the
former location of production wells and offshore
pipelines
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View south of Point Conception Well Site
following abandonment and revegetation efforts
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View south of Cojo Marine Terminal onshore
facility
depicting storage tank and associated
support facilities;
the Marine Terminal loading
line was located offshore to the South
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View south of Cojo Marine Terminal onshore
facility
following abandonment of the storage
tank,
terminal line and associated facilities
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Description
This site houses facilities in three
locations (Cojo Bay, Government Point
and Point Conception) that were once
used to accommodate oil and gas production
from offshore platforms (Harry and Herman)
in the Point
Conception field. The platforms
have been removed and the existing marine
terminal and production facilities are
no longer active. These facilities were
removed by the end of 2004. Since then,
Unocal and its affiliates have worked
to clean up and restore these sites to pre-commission
standards.
Location
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Overhead View of Unocal's Cojo Facility |
Cojo
Bay Marine Terminal Site
Unocal's former Cojo Bay Marine Terminal site is located
to the northeast of Point Conception, approximately
45 miles west of the City of Santa Barbara and 13 miles
south of the City of Lompoc. |
Government Point Production
Facilities Site
Unocal's former Government
Point Facilities site is located
to the northwest of Point Conception,
approximately 45 miles west of
the City of Santa Barbara and
13 miles south of the City of
Lompoc.
Point Conception Well Location
Unocal's former Point Conception
well site is located to the northeast
of the tip of Point Conception,
immediately north of the Pt.
Conception lighthouse facilities. |
Overhead View of Unocal's
Government Point and Point
Conception Site |
Cleanup Activities
Unocal's cleanup activities at Point
Conception consist of a number of projects
associated with the company's Cojo Bay
marine terminal offshore loading line,
Government Point production facility
and various storage wells.
Cojo Bay Marine Terminal
- The last barge loading at the Cojo Bay marine terminal occurred
in 1987.
- The terminal was placed under caretaker status in 1993.
- The offshore mooring system was removed in the early 1990s.
- Sections of offshore loading hoses were removed in late 1997.
- The pipeline has been flushed with seawater to remove residual
oil.
Government Point Production Facility
and Wells
- The Government Point production facility was last used in 1993
and placed under caretaker status that same year.
- Four onsite oil wells were idled in 1993 and abandoned
in 1999, which involved the cutting and capping of each well at
a depth of 8 feet below ground surface and complete removal of
the well cellars.
- Four oil storage tanks have been emptied of remaining product
and rinsed clean.
Past Activities
- Phillips Petroleum Company constructed the Cojo Marine Terminal
onshore facility in the early 1960s to accommodate the development
of the State offshore tract PRC 2207 from Platform
Harry. In the early 1970s, Phillips Petroleum abandoned and
removed Platform Harry and all related onshore processing equipment
connected to the marine terminal. Between Phillips' Platform Harry
and Texaco's Platform
Herman, 13 million barrels
of oil/condensate
and 747 billion cubic
feet of natural
gas were produced.
- Union Oil Company constructed the Government
Point production facility in the early 1970s. The site produced
oil and gas from the Point Conception field (State Tidelands Lease
PRC 2879). Production consisted of 21 million barrels of oil/condensate
and 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
- Unocal acquired the remaining Cojo Bay
marine terminal facilities in 1973 in order to transport oil production
from the Government Point facility to the marine terminal and
onto oil tankers via an offshore loading line.
- February 9, 2000, Unocal submitted an application to the Energy
Division to decommission the facility at Cojo Bay and Government
Point.
- An Initial Study was conducted under the California Environmental
Quality Act, which analyzed potential environmental impacts of
the Phase II Abandonment Plan. Some impacts were found to be potentially
significant, however mitigable. A mitigated Negative Declaration
(02-ND-02) was prepared and circulated for review early in 2002.
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