One must assume from these fish-catch records and observations of Mr. Durden that the oil spill has had a definite effect on the fish production in this channel as far as school fish are concerned, and certainly constitutes a definite hardship for people involved in this type of fishery. On February 19, Mr. John Fraser, vice president of exploration and production for Union Oil, western region, made the statement in Sacramento that no guarantees can be made against future spills in our channel. Mr. D. W. Solanas, regional oil and gas supervisor for the Department of Interior made substantially the same statement. It would seem the ultimate solution to future pollution would be a permanent halt to all drilling operations in the channel. If future spills cannot be guaranteed preventable, why should this channel be subjected to any more abuses? The residual effects of this disaster cannot be foreseen. The food chain that is so all important may have been seriously damaged. Future forage fish may be in greatly reduced supply. We don't know what to expect. Only time will tell. The damage from this spill will take years to assess. I shudder to think what devastation another spill would cause. I urge permanent cessation of drilling in the Santa Barbara Channel. Senator MONTOYA. Thank you very much, Mr. Castagnola. I have no questions. I think you stated a good case for the fishermen. Mr. CASTAGNOLA. Thank you. Senator MONTOYA. Senator Cranston? Senator DOLE. I have no questions, but I appreciate the statement. Senator MONTOYA. The hearings will be recessed until 9 tomorrow. The first witness will be Mr. Solanas of the Geological Survey. (Whereupon, at 5:30 p.m., the hearings recessed to reconvene at 9 a.m., Tuesday, February 25, 1969.) WATER POLLUTION-1969 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1969 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AIR AND WATER POLLUTION Santa Barbara, Calif. The subcommittee met at 9 a.m., pursuant to recess, in the Planning Commission hearing room, County Administration Building, Santa Barbara, Calif., Senator Joseph Montoya (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Montoya, Dole, and Cranston. Also present: Richard B. Royce, chief clerk and staff director Bailey Guard, assistant chief clerk (minority) Leon G. Billings professional staff member; and Janet M. Dennis and Joan C. Russell, staff assistants. Senator MONTOYA. The meeting will come to order. This morning we are going to hear as our first witness Mr. D. W. Solanas, regional supervisor of the Branch of Oil and Gas Conservation Division of the U.S. Geological Survey. Mr. Solanas. Would you identify your counsel or adviser. STATEMENT OF D. W. SOLANAS, REGIONAL SUPERVISOR, OIL AND GAS DIVISION, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY; ACCOMPANIED BY HARRY CYPHER, DISTRICT ENGINEER Mr. SOLANAS. He is not my legal counsel. Sitting beside me, Senator, is Mr. Harry Cypher, one of my district engineers. He happens to be district engineer for my Santa Barbara district. Senator MOYTOYA. Do you have a written statement, Mr. Solanas? Mr. SOLANAS. Yes, sir; I have a brief statement that I would like to read. Senator MONTOYA. You do not have any copies? Mr. SOLANAS. No, sir; it is in pretty poor shape to submit. I will read it into the record and I can have copies typed and present them to the committee. Senator MONTOYA. You won't need to do that. You may proceed to make whatever statement you wish on this problem and then we will ask you some questions. Mr. SOLANAS. This is a brief statement which more or less just explains to you people who we are and what we do. Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, my name is Donald W. Solanas. I am regional oil and gas supervisor for the Pacific region, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. The Pacific region comprises the States of California, Oregon, Wash ington, Nevada, and the Outer Continental Shelf in the Pacific Ocean from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. My office is responsible for the supervision of exploration, drilling, and production on all Federal lands and leases within the Pacific region. Senator MONTOYA. Would you state your professional background? Mr. SOLANAS. Yes, sir. I am a graduate petroleum engineer and geologist with 19 years' experience, 14 years of which have been in offshore operations for the Department of the Interior, the last 5 years of which have been in the Pacific Ocean and the first 9 years of which were in the Gulf of Mexico for the Department of the Interior. Senator MONTOYA. Where did you attend school? Mr. SOLANAS. I have a bachelor of science degree from the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La. Senator MONTOYA. You may proceed with your statement and I will ask you a few other questions. Mr. SOLANAS. We are staffed with petroleum engineers, petroleum geologists, and petroleum technicians who operate from three district offices and the regional headquarters. The U.S. Geological Survey has been supervising oil and gas operations on Federal lands on the west coast for the past 45 years. As of fiscal year 1969, the U.S. Geological Survey nationwide through its seven oil and gas regions has under supervision 110,598 oil and gas leases, encompassing 68 million acres of Federal lands. Ten percent of these leases, or 10,374 leases, are presently producing oil and gas. In calendar year 1967, 463 million barrels of oil and 2 billion M.c.f. of natural gas were produced from these Federal leases valued at $1.8 billion. Royalty on production paid under these Federal leases amounted to $262 million in 1967; 37.5 percent of the royalty revenue from these Federal leases and those leases which are located within the State of California goes to the State for its use and 52.5 percent of the royalty revenue goes to a reclamation fund in which the State shares by reclamation projects. Ten percent of the royalty revenue, the remaining amount, goes into the Federal Treasury. Since passage of the Outer Continental Shelflands Act in 1953, the U.S. Government has sold approximately 1,300 gas leases on its Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. These leases were sold competitively and bonuses received have amounted to approximately $3 billion. Number of wells drilled on OCS There have been 7,500 wells drilled on these leases under the direct field supervision of the U.S. Geological Survey, and there are at present approximately 4,000 producing oil and gas wells on these Federal Outer Continental Shelf leases. Senator MONTOYA. How many wells, did you say? Mr. SOLANAS. I will repeat that sentence, sir. There have been 7,500 wells drilled on these Outer Continental Shelf Federal leases under the direct field supervision of the U.S. Geological Survey, and there are at present approximately 4,000 producing oil and gas wells on these Federal OCS leases. As of fiscal year 1969, approximately 900 oil and gas leases are still in effect and production for the year is estimated to be 3 million barrels of oil and 1.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, with a total value of $1 billion and royalty value of $190 million. I would like to introduce into the record sets of Federal oil and gas regulations, OCS orders and other requirements, data, and statistics for your review. (See pp. 704-798.) Senator MONTOYA. Without objection they will be admitted. Mr. SOLANAS. I would like to make a brief observation that the United States of America is a strong and progressive nation for many reasons, one of which is this Nation's ability to produce and utilize petroleum and natural gas. We are presently consuming petroleum in this country at a rate greater than what reserves of oil are able to be replaced by discoveries by new oilfields. Congress fully realized these ramifications when it passed the Outer Continental Shelflands Act in 1953 after lengthy hearings. I am present this morning at your request and with the authorization of the Secretary of the Interior, Walter Hickel, to answer factual questions that you may have for me to answer. AVAILABLE STAFF Senator MONTOYA. First, Mr. Solanas, would you give us the detail of the staff which is available to you to supervise the drilling of oil and all other pertinent obligations with respect to the development of oil in the Outer Continental Shelf? Mr. SOLANAS. Yes, sir; in the Pacific region I have 10 petroleum engineers and two petroleum engineering technicians. For the Outer Continental Shelf operation, I have two petroleum engineers and two petroleum technicians that have been specifically assigned the responsibility of supervising on the field level the OCS operation. There are also backup petroleum engineers, which number four, which are located in the regional office and which include myself, who have taken an active role in the supervision of the Outer Continental Shelf operation off the Pacific coast of the United States. Senator MONTOYA. Do I understand you to say that for all practical purposes you have two petroleum engineers and two petroleum engineering technicians supervising the drilling operations in the Outer Continental Shelf? Mr. SOLANAS. This has been what I have designated as regional oil and gas supervisor. Senator MONTOYA. You have a total personnel of four to handle all of these operations? Mr. SOLANAS. That are specifically assigned. In the Santa Barbara District Office Senator MONTOYA. What particular area do these people cover? Mr. SOLANAS. This was started in this way at the time we had our Outer Continental Shelf operations, which were only located off of northern California, Oregon, and Washington. This is where the Outer Continental Shelf operation first started in the Pacific Ocean. These people were assigned these duties. When the Federal Government held its Outer Continental Shelf lease sale in February of last year whereby they sold 71 tracts in the Santa Barbara Channel, then these engineers also were responsible for the field supervision of these leases also. Senator MONTOYA. Would it be safe to say, then, that these four people are in charge of fieldwork and supervision all the way from Washington, Oregon, California clear down to the Santa Barbara Channel? Mr. SOLANAS. It was that way until the Santa Barbara Channel operation expanded to the point that it is today or that it was as of the first of the year whereby we established the Santa Barbara district and the Santa Barbara district is now responsible for only the Outer Continental Shelf leases that are located within the Santa Barbara Channel. Senator MONTOYA. How many people do you have there? Are these the four that you have there? Mr. SOLANAS. As of right now I have one district engineer located in the Santa Barbara district and one petroleum technician located in Santa Barbara. Senator MONTOYA. Do they have other duties outside of Santa Barbara? Mr. SOLANAS. No, sir; their sole duties are what go on in the Santa Barbara Channel. Senator MONTOYA. How long have these people been here? Mr. SOLANAS. These people have been working out of the post office since we have obtained the space in October of 1968. Senator MONTOYA. What kind of supervision do they provide during the course of drilling operations and how much time do they spend in the field? Mr. SOLANAS. Their duties are to inspect operations that are being conducted on all Federal leases whether they be drilling operations or production operations. They spend time, certainly, in the office handling the paperwork and the approvals and the conferences with the Federal lessee representatives. I have a tabulation which has been prepared as of yesterday which shows the number of actual field inspections that have been conducted by the petroleum engineers and technicians on the Outer Continental Shelf leases during the past year since the Federal lease sale in February of 1968. We have an active field inspection program established for the Santa Barbara Channel. (The tabulation submitted by Mr. Solanas is as follows:) STATISTICAL DATA SUPPLIED BY MR. SOLANAS Memorandum To: Oil and Gas Supervisor, Pacific Region February 24, 1969 From: M. V. Adams, Regional Staff Engineer Subject: OCS Inspections-Pacific Region-February 1, 1968, to February 24, 1969 |