Legal agreement reached to permanently close oil wells and restore habitat in Carrizo Plain National Monument

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. – A legal agreement was reached to secure the permanent closure and restoration of 11 long-dormant oil wells along the Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo County line inside the Carrizo Plain National Monument, conservation groups announced on Monday.

The agreement settles a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in 2020 after it approved a permit for a new well and repair or replacement of a dilapidated pipeline. It was the first new oil well approved in Carrizo Plain National Monument since its establishment in 2001.

The lawsuit was brought by Los Padres ForestWatch and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The well sites are in the Caliente Mountains inside the western boundary of the Carrizo Plain National Monument, an area home to several protected species.

The lawsuit said that the proposed fossil fuel extraction would harm threatened and endangered wildlife and mar scenic views, violating the monument's resource management plan, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The lawsuit also stated that the Bureau of Land Management failed to protect monument resources in managing oil drilling in the national monument, including capping and remediating old wells and facilities that have not produced oil in decades, according to Los Padres ForestWatch officials.

"Some of the oil wells in Carrizo Plain National Monument have been dormant since the 1950s, potentially emitting greenhouse gasses, leaving a blight on the landscape, and posing a risk to underground water supplies," said Los Padres ForestWatch Executive Director Jeff Kuyper.

The agreement, filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, memorializes the expiration of the 2020 approval of the new well and pipeline and requires the Bureau to ensure 11 long-dormant oil wells are properly abandoned and reclaimed, including removing well pads, access roads, pipelines, and other equipment to return the areas to natural conditions.

The groups will work with the Bureau to address nearly two dozen additional idle wells inside the monument's boundary.

The agreement sets a five-year timeline for completing the work following a public comment period.