Greka threatens layoffs

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Greka Energy officials accused the County of Santa Barbara yesterday of unfairly singling them out, closing its facilities after a spate of large and small spills and as a result, forcing the company to consider laying off 100 local employees, which accounts for half of its workforce.
The accusations were released just hours after the Environmental Protection Agency held a press conference updating local reporters on cleanup efforts at three North County Greka facilities.


Since Jan. 5, when an estimated 80,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into a seasonal creek on Zaca Station Road near Los Olivos, local, state and federal officials have vowed to crack down Greka and any other oil company that spill.
As a result of the spills, at least four Greka sites have been ordered closed until cleanup efforts are completed and improvements at the facilities are made.
Though the forced closures are regular protocol for the County Fire Department, Greka called them “onerous.”
“The county’s actions are a transparent attempt to close all of Greka’s facilities,” said Andrew deVegvar, who was appointed Greka’s president last month. “With this aggressive and selective inspection schedule, the county is circumventing the law and trying to shut down our facilities one by one.”
DeVegvar calls the county’s most recent actions a “selective attack” that has damaged the company and placed the livelihoods of more than 200 families at risk.
Messages left by the Daily Sound for a county spokesman were not immediately returned.
But in past Daily Sound stories, county fire officials have said they are treating Greka as they would any company that spills.
Since November, Greka has spilled nearly 200,000 gallons of crude oil onto local soil, much of which spewed into seasonal creeks. A county report presented to the Board of Supervisors on Jan. 15 showed that incidents at Greka facilities account for more than 80 percent of emergency responses to oil operations.
And under the close watch of the EPA, which according to Rob Wise, an on-scene coordinator for the EPA, the federal agency has had to respond to three different Greka spills since the beginning of last month.
During yesterday’s news conference, Wise said Greka employees would not be allowed to conduct cleanup operations in a creek bed near Santa Maria because it was discovered they were simply covering the oil with dirt.
“Covering it up is not the way to clean up an oil spill,” Wise said. “We’re not allowing them to work in the creek.”
Since the spills began to occur on a regular basis in November, Greka has pointed fingers at many entities with the exception of itself.
In regards to the two largest spills, Greka officials said the facilities were sabotaged.
When a pipe broke earlier this week and leaked 200 barrels of crude oil and processed water at an already closed facility, Greka blamed the County Fire Department for closing the facility.
County Fire Capt. Eli Iskow called this claim “absurd.”
Wise told the Daily Sound yesterday that Greka is not being singled out, they’re just spilling while other companies are not.
“They’re making themselves out to be the victim but we’re not going to spills at any other facilities,” he said. “It’s not that we’re ignoring the facilities, they’re just not happening.”
DeVegvar said Greka has invested millions of dollars in updating its infrastructure and plans to do more in the future.