Responding to an outcry from Huasna Valley residents, a proposal to truck oil out of the rural valley and along Huasna Road up to the Nipomo Mesa has been scrapped.

Excelaron LLC, a subsidiary of Australian Oil Co., is requesting a conditional-use permit from San Luis Obispo County to allow for oil exploration and production on the 5,000-acre Mankins Ranch in Huasna, east of Arroyo Grande.

If crude oil is found at the site, Excelaron had proposed hauling the tar-like substance from the ranch, up Huasna Townsite Road to Huasna Road, following the narrow and winding route into Arroyo Grande.

However, after hearing from about 300 concerned Huasna Valley and Arroyo Grande residents at a recent town hall meeting, Excelaron changed the oil transport route to completely bypass Huasna Road and the city of Arroyo Grande.

The announcement was made during Tuesday's Arroyo Grande City Council meeting.

“We received comments from the public that identified the truck route as the community's biggest concern,” said Carol Florence, Excelaron representative. “We're pleased to report that we have found an alternate route ... that will have no impact on the city.”

As now proposed, the new route would take trucks from the oil field on the Mankins Ranch east on Huasna Townsite Road and then through private property - the Porter Ranch - to Highway 166. The trucks would then head south on Highway 101 to a facility outside the county, Florence said.

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The newly proposed route will require Excelaron to provide additional information to be analyzed by the county Planning Department, and could delay the project's public hearing until later this year, Florence said.

The company's request to drill up to four new test wells on the Mankins property was scheduled to be heard Oct. 9 by the Planning Commission.

If the project is approved and oil is found at the site, Excelaron plans to begin production immediately, with a maximum of eight round trips a day for the trucks.

Fourth District Supervisor Katcho Achadjian will host a town hall

meeting on the proposal at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 18, at the South County Regional Center, 800 W. Branch, Arroyo

Grande.

For more information, call Achadjian's office at 781-4337.

August 27, 2008