Excavating contaminated sand from the Guadalupe Oil Fields has stopped, but work on how to treat the sand and what to do with it once the cleanup project is finished is moving ahead.
Earlier this month, the county approved a contract with MRS Environmental Inc. to prepare a supplemental environmental impact report for the Unocal remediation project and subsequent disposal of the more than 600,000 cubic yards of contaminated sand.
It will take about 18 months for the SEIR and the public hearing process to be completed, according to Gonzalo Garcia, project manager.
"It's going to take another two to four years to get the rest of it cleaned up," Garcia said, adding additional permits will be needed to do more excavation after the SEIR is certified.
Garcia said about 360,000 cubic yards of sand have been excavated and are being stored on site but away from the wetlands. The large mountain of sand has been sealed, treated with "soil cement," and Unocal is waiting to get the green light to dispose of it.
The SEIR will address newly identified treatment and disposal methods for the excavated plumes and sumps of diluent at the site of a former Unocal oil field. Diluent is a petroleum-based substance that was used to dilute the thick crude oil found at the field to make it easier to pump.
Over the years, diluent leaded from pipes at several areas throughout the field, which was operated by other oil companies prior to Unocal taking over.
Unocal prefers treating diluent-affected sand and soil on site and then using it a backfill for a cleanup project area. The process includes injecting contaminated sand or soil with bacterial that will then eat away the oil, according to Garcia.
Once treated, the clean soil would be used as backfill to create a new dune that would then be vegetated.
But Garcia said the idea of treating the sand on site and using it as backfill in the Guadalupe Dunes is raising the hackles of some because final treatment levels for the material haven't been established.
Because the Guadalupe Dunes is an ecologically sensitive area, not many are embracing the oil company's preferred remediation method.
"There's been a lot of reluctance to do that because of the environmentally sensitive area out here," Garcia said, adding that several alternatives will be examined in the SEIR.
He also said the treatment could still possibly be done, just away from the wetlands to cut down on any environmental damage or degradation the process may entail/
The area where the excavated sand is presently being stored is a dry, paved area one-quarter of a mile inland and away from the wetlands. Drainage is also contained.
The SEIR will also examine trucking the contaminated material off site to a solid waste facility, such as the Santa Maria Landfill.
"That would be a win-win situation," Garcia said. "It gets rid of the risk on site, and it also helps with the closure plan (at the landfill)."
The SEIR will also look at treating the sand through thermal desorption, where the affected material is treated with heat to vaporize the hydrocarbons.
Unocal will pay for the SEIR, which Garcia said will likely cost between $500,000 and $700,000.
The project's original environmental impact report that was certified by the county in 1998 cost Unocal more than $1 million. That document evaluated and determine ed mitigation measures for remedial actions, including excavation of diluent plumes and treatment methods for the excavated material.
Sacramento Bee: April 27, 2003
Guadalupe Dunes - Dunes spills focus of cleanup
Stuart Leavenworth
On the surface, the dunes that dominate this stark and beautiful landscape remain as majestic as when Cecil B. DeMille filmed The Ten Commandments here in 1923.
Venture across the Guadalupe Dunes in southern San Luis Obispo County and youll find frog-filled marshes, nesting grounds for endangered shorebirds and the rarest flowering plants in California.
But looks can be deceiving. Under the surface, the dunes hide a major oil-industry disaster. Starting in the 1950s, the oil giant Unocal carelessly leaked up to 18 million gallons of petroleum under this sensitive landscape, the largest oil spill in Californias history.
To many, the Guadalupe spill typifies everything that is wrong with fossil fuels. To others, it typifies everything right with Californias coastal protection laws, the strongest in the nation.
Fined $44 million and threatened with jail time, Unocal officials have been working to clean up the 2,700-acre site since 1994. The have ripped out pipelines that once scarred the landscape, replanted vegetation and excavated 360,000 cubic yards of contaminated sand.
Even Unocals harshest critics cant help but marvel. The transformation of the Guadalupe Dunes is nothing less than miraculous, says Mark Massara, a Sierra Club lawyer who once hounded the company over its spills.
Unocals troubles started soon after it purchased the Guadalupe oil field in the 1950s. Engineers built 145 miles of pipelines across the dunes to carry a diesel-like substance, known as diluent, to help pump the thick crude out of the earth. Over the years, the pipelines rusted and became buried in the shifting sands, where they sprang leaks in at least 90 places.
By the late 1980s, surfers were complaining about a mysterious sheen in the nearby ocean, and sea lions and seals started washing up dead. Unocal initially denied any problems, but then, acting on a tip, state fish and game officers raided the companys offices in 1992, carting away 20 boxes of records.
Those records showed Unocal officials had long known about the spills, which by then had spread so far underground they were seeping into the Pacific Ocean and the nearby Santa Maria River.
Environmentalists wanted jail time for the Unocal officials. Instead, the company got probation and paid $44 million in fines and damages to
the state.
Six state and federal agencies now oversee Unocals cleanup. Instead of pumping oil at Guadalupe, a staff of 20 Unocal biologists and engineers work on the cleanup there, headed by an environmental specialist named Gonzalo Garcia.
Lanky and affable, Garcia has a daunting task to simultaneously restore the environment and repair Unocals public image.
His team has stanched the worst of the underground spills. It also is testing ways of detoxifying a mountain of excavated soil that was dug from the beach and other sites.
What makes this tricky is this is one of the most sensitive ecological sites in the state, says Garcia. Excavating everything, he says, would effectively destroy the dunes everyone wants to save.
Over the long run, Unocal officials hope that natural microbes and man-made cleanup will remove and break down the subsurface contamination, and prevent any exposure to the areas 300 species of wildlife.
Garcia who wears a Unocal sweat shirt that reads Concluding our activities in a responsible way says the healing process will take a
long time.
I tell people, Dont trust us, watch us, he said. Watch what we do.
Sierra
Club California Coastwatcher: August 2002
Guadalupe
Oil Field, a study in contrast
Mark Massara
Looking out across 2,700-acres
of some of the finest dune habitat in the world you would
never know tens of millions of gallons of oil lays just beneath
the surface. A couple of weeks ago Unocal Oil Company announced
that it had purchased the underlying land rights to its leasehold
at Guadalupe Dunes in San Luis Obispo County. Guadalupe Dunes
is the place where Unocal operated hundreds of oil derricks
and hundreds of miles of pipelines for decades, and where
they managed to spill upwards of a hundred million gallons
of oil. During the early and mid-1990's the site was the subject
of lawsuits, fines and massive excavation and cleanup efforts
along the ocean, adjacent to the Santa Maria River and in
the sand dunes. Millions of gallons of oil have been recovered
and removed from the site. Millions more remain trapped and
are being addressed in ongoing cleanup efforts and a subsequent
environmental analysis.
What is staggering is the abundance of wildlife, rare and
endangered plants, coastal resources and archeology sites.
Guadalupe's 2,700-acres, which will now be permanently protected
(Unocal plans to pass title to the property to a governmental
agency or nonprofit organization following completion of cleanup
efforts), are part of the much larger 20,000-acre Guadalupe-Nipomo
Dune Complex. More than 280 plant and 320 wildlife species
(excluding fish and invertebrates) have been identified in
the area. Rare plants such as Blochman's Leafy Daisy, Sand
Plant, Beach, Spectacle-Pod, Surf Thistle, Dunedelion, La
Graciosa Thistle, Dune Mint, Suffrutescent Wallflower and
Giant Coreopsis are found in abundance in the dunes. Exotics
invasives are generally not present and those that are, like
iceplant, are being removed. Teams of biologists are using
local seed banks to establish dune nurseries from which thousands
more of these rare plants will be established. Other biologists
are monitoring large populations of California Red-Legged
Frogs, Western Snowy Plovers, Silvery Legless Lizards, Tidewater
Goby, California Brown Pelican and dozens of other species.
Numerous wetlands and freshwater lakes throughout the dunes
support a large population of dune deer. Brown bears and mountain
lions come from inland along the Santa Maria River and from
the south across Pt. Sal.
The transformation of Guadalupe Dunes from California's largest
coastal oil spill to unparalleled environmental dune habitat
is nothing less than miraculous. Yet it isn't happening without
tremendous expense and effort. The legacy of Guadalupe is
that people can have a positive impact on nature, and we owe
an obligation to carefully clean up the messes we have made.
It is also amazing quickly nature can re-establish itself
given the opportunity.
For more information see www.guaddunes.com

Santa
Barbara News Press: July 14, 2002
UNOCAL
BUYS GUADALUPE OIL FIELD -Polluted site to be nature preserve
David Sneed
Unocal Corp. has purchased
the ecologically important but polluted Guadalupe oil field.
The oil company announced
the purchase of the 2,704-acre site in the southwestern corner
of San Luis Obispo County on Friday from the Leroy Family
Trust. The price was not revealed.
The acquisition means that the parcel will be forever preserved,
said Gonzalo Garcia, Unocal project manager at the site.
Under a settlement reached in the late 1990s, Unocal agreed
to try to buy the sitea small portion is in the northern
Santa Barbara County and give up development rights
when the purchase was complete.
This purchase will enable us to dedicate a sitewide
conservation easement over the property.
The easement prohibits any kind of development or further
oil extraction and limits grazing to activities that help
habitat restoration. Unocal is allowed to continue its cleanup
activities at the site.
Conservationists hailed the purchase as an important step
in preserving the scarce and fragile Guadalupe-Nipomo dunes
ecosystem. Property to the north and south of the oil field
has already been preserved.
I think in many ways it (the oil field) is one of the
finest pieces of dune habitat we have, said Liz Scott-Graham
with the Dunes Center in Guadalupe. A lot of the vegetation
is in really good shape.
The conservation easement will be held by a public agency
or nonprofit group approved by San Luis Obispo County and
the State Coastal Commission.
The oil field remains heavily polluted, and public access
is limited to beach areas, where cleanup work has already
been completed.
For more than 50 years, Unocal leased the oil field where
it pumped heavy Santa Maria crude oil from deep underground.
A kerosene-like substance called diluent was used to thin
the gooey oil as it was pumped out of the ground. Between
8.5 and 20 million gallons of the substance leaked into the
field and settled in the sand in huge underground pools.
In 1998, Unocal agreed to pay $43.8 million in penalties for
the pollution it caused at the oil field.
It also agreed to develop ways to clean up the site without
destroying its scarce habitat for endangered species such
as the red-legged frog and snowy plovers.
The oil company developed
a bioremediation program in which polluted sand from near
the Santa Maria River was dug up, and the diluent was allowed
to naturally decompose.
However, this method, failed to clean up the sand to the point
it could be used as backfill.
Cleanup work was stopped a year ago, and county planners are
having a supplemental environmental report written that will
outline other options for cleaning up the sand.
Those include hauling it by truck or rail to a disposal site,
injecting the sand in a water slurry back into the underground
oil formation and washing or burning the sand to remove pollution.
The supplemental environmental report is due next summer.

The
Tribune: December 14, 2001
Man-made
dunes credited with successful Plover Breeding season
TPR Staff
GUADALUPE While
few snowy plover chicks survived in the Oceano Dunes State
Vehicular Recreation Area, Plovers experienced the most successful
breeding season at Unocals former Guadalupe Oil Field
since monitoring began there eight years ago.
The March to September breeding season brought the most nests
and the highest hatch rate, according to monitors who located
a total of 62 snowy plover nests.
Of those nests, 35 hatched for a hatch rate of 58 percent.
Twenty-five nests failed and two had unknown outcomes.
Researchers studying the threatened Western snowy plover say
the results indicate efforts to create nesting habitat for
the small bird are succeeding.
Man-made dunes were covered with rice plugs to stabilize the
dunes from wind erosion. The primary purpose of the man-made
dunes was to restore the site to topography similar to that
of a more mature beach dune. But the restored dunes also benefited
nesting snowy plovers.
Of the 60 nests within the normal survey area, 13 are located
on the restored dunes. Ten of those nests hatched, monitors
said. That 77 percent hatch rate is higher than for the survey
area in general.
Researchers theorize that the combination of greater cover,
reduced wind and improved visibility combined to improve the
nesting success of birds choosing to place their eggs there.
We are thrilled that our efforts to restore their breeding
environment has proved to be such a success, said Gonzalo
Garcia, Unocal project manager. It appears the snowy
plovers have adjusted well to the restoration of the beach.
Monitors approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey
a one-mile stretch of dunes north of the Santa Maria River.
When plovers are located, their numbers, age, sex and location
are recorded. The nests are checked regularly to determine
whether the nest hatched successfully, and if not, an attempt
is made to determine the cause of nest failure.
The scientific name
for the Western snowy plover is Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus.
The small bird is a federally threatened species and California
species of special concern.
The plover is a small, compact bird, colored a pale tan-gray
with a white breast and belly. The plover breeds at more that
28 sites on the Pacific Coast of the United States. The most
common breeding sites are along coastal lagoons and beaches.
More information on the Guadalupe Restoration Project and
the Western snowy plover is available at the Web site www.guaddunes.com

Santa
Maria Times: November 15, 2001
Snowy
Plovers'new digs
Heidi LaurenzanoTimes Staff Writer
GUADALUPE Plovers,
apparently, prefer man-made dunes.
At least thats what a Unocal-hired contract scientist
said Wednesday while showing off 17 acres of dune habitat
the company has created for the threatened Western snowy
plover.
Its an effort to repair the damage done by the oil
company for years, when diluent seepage 20 feet below the
surface threatened the ocean and the Santa Maria River estuary.
The Regional Water Quality Control Board ordered the company
to remove 380,000 cubic yards of sand over 14 acres of contaminated
soil in 1994.
Remediation of the dunes and seashore is complete. But Unocal
still has 270,000 cubic yards of soil east of the dunes
to clean up.
Tom Jordan, a contract environmental scientist with Unocal
since 1994, said data indicates the plovers favor dunes
created by Unocal for their nesting.
Jordan said of the 62 total nests identified this year,
13 were in the restored dunes. The bulk of them were on
the seashore, the usual habitat for plovers, and the rest
were in other places such as oil well pads and roads.
The remarkable thing, said Jordan, is that the nests in
the sculpted dunes have a hatch rate of 77 percent vs. 35
percent for the entire survey area. The hatch rate measures
the percentage of nests that yield live plovers.
Jordan said the plovers success in dunes was a
shock to everyone.
They (tend to) like the beach and the flatter areas,
he said. On top of the dunes
theyre above,
so they can look out for predators. When adult plovers
are startled, they abandon their eggs, he said.
What also helps attract the plovers is the hundreds of straw
plugs workers stuck into the dunes, said Jordan. The dried
bunches of straw, placed every 12 inches or so, serve as
a windbreak, he said. Windbreaks and good lookouts meant
the plovers eggs stayed warm, which is required for
hatching.
The plugs also serve as secure, nurturing environments in
which seeds can germinate. Jordan and his team drop seeds
of native plants on each plug in hopes of re-introducing
them to the ecosystem.
The giant pile of contaminated soil sitting behind the sculpted
dunes about 200 yards away serves as a reminder of Unocals
past transgression. An environmental impact report and statement
are being put together to determine the fate of the sand.
It will either be trucked to another location or cleaned
on site, Jordan said.
He said hes happy the cleanup of the seashore and
dunes is over.
Were finally starting to shift to restoration,
he said. Now there are better returns and dividends.

Time
Press Recorder: Friday, October 29, 2001
Booklet
details sensitive species at oil cleanup site
TPR Staff
During the Guadalupe
Oil Field remediation project, a major challenge is to
protect sensitive species and habitats while conducting
cleanup and decommissioning activities.
An eight-page booklet is now available titled Sensitive
Plant and Wildlife Species at the Guadalupe Restoration
Project. The booklet, produced by Unocal, details
many of the threatened and endangered plants and animal
species found at the site.
The project at the former oil field occupies more than
2,700 acres of the larger Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Complex.
Extensive surveys have been conducted, and more than 280
plants and 320 wildlife species excluding fish
and invertebrates have been identified as either
being on site or possibly present at the site.
Of the plants and animals confirmed on site, state of
federal agencies consider 14 plants, one fish, two amphibians,
four reptiles, 23 birds and one mammal to be of special
status.
We want the public to see that this is a very valuable
ecological resource, and balancing the remediation work
with the ecology is an important job, said Gonzalo
Garcia, Guadalupe Oil Field cleanup project manager.
The guide is available by writing to Unocal at P.O. Box
1069, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 or calling (877) UNOCAL-7.
The public an also pick up a copy at the Dunes Center,
1055 Guadalupe St. in Guadalupe.

The
Tribune: September 3, 2000
A
haven for wildlife
First wildlife preserve on the Central Coast
GuadalupeCall
it an island of tranquility in a sea of controversy.
Sandwiched between the
Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area and the Guadalupe
oil field sits the nation's newest wildlife refuge and the
first one on the Central Coast.
The Guadalupe-Nipomo
Dunes National Wildlife Refuge is 2,553 acres of shifting
sand and rolling coastal scrub land. The refuge was born Aug.
1 when The Nature Conservancy donated what has historically
been known as the Mobile Coastal Preserve to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service. The refuge is one of 500 across America.
"It's just a stunning
area to explore," said Chris Barr, 33, the refuge's manager.
"Every time you come out here, you are going to see something
you haven't seen before."
On a recent morning,
Barr hiked out to his new domain. As he trudged along the
sandy trails of the state's Oso Flaco Lake Natural Area to
reach the refuge, the buzz of motorcycles and dune buggies
could be heard to the north.
The use of the beach
and dunes of the state park by off-road vehicles is a source
of much controversy for the Parks Department. Barr won't have
that problemno cars are allowed in the refuge.
To the south, Unocal
Corp. is in the beginning phases of cleaning up one of the
nation's worst petroleum contamination sites. Barr won't have
that problem eitherhis agency made sure none of the
pollution extended into the refuge before it acquired the
land.
Instead, the refuge
will serve as a haven for scarce coastal plants and animals
as well as outdoor enthusiasts who like to get away from trails
and campgrounds and experience nature at its most elemental.
On paper, the refuge
covers 8,330 acres, but only the former Mobile Coastal Preserve
is actually owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. Other adjacent properties, such as the oil field,
are included within the refuge boundary in order to give the
service the ability to easily acquire them should their owners
want to sell or donate the land.
As Barr reached the
ocean, he turned south and splashed across Oso Flaco Creek.
Before him stretched the refuge - an expanse of low, tan-colored
dunes covered with splotches of hardy shrubs.
Reasons for the preserve
were everywhere.
Large flocks of gulls
and brown pelicans rested by the mouth of the creek. Farther
along the beach, clusters of tiny sanderlings scurried along
the surf line, and long-billed curlews took flight, screeching
in protest at the uncommon human intrusion.
One of the main purposes
of the refuge is to provide habitat for the threatened western
snowy plover. Ten nesting pairs of the tiny birds were observed
on the refuge this summer, Barr said. Least terns and peregrine
falcons also forage on the refuge.
Surf fishing is the
most common human activity on the refuge. Hikers, bird watchers,
photographers and botanists are also infrequent visitors.
After watching dolphins
feed offshore, Barr headed inland. Away from the beach, the
sand is hard-packed and sculpted by the wind.
Unlike the OHV areas
to the north, vegetation crowns many of the dunes and extends
along their slopes. Pockets of wetlands, inhabited by willows
and threatened red-legged frogs as well as endangered Gambel's
watercress and marsh sandwort, are scattered among the dunes.
Soon, the refuge's main
problem becomes evident. Many of the plants that grow in the
refuge are imports from Europe and Africa and threaten to
overwhelm the native species. (Some of the imports were planted
by ranchers for forage for cattle; others grew from seeds
that blew from plants brought by homeowners for their gardens).
European beach grass
is encroaching into the refuge from the sea, blown inland
by prevailing onshore breezes. Veldt grass is spreading from
the inland side.
Finding a way to stop
and, if possible, reverse this encroachment will be Barr's
biggest challenge. This brings the refuge manager to one of
his favorite topics - "partnering," or cooperating with other
agencies and groups to achieve common goals.
He hopes to work with
groups such as the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County
to remove invasive weeds without damaging the fragile ecosystems
of the refuge. Unocal is another resource.
The company is required
to remove all non-native plants from the oil field as part
of the cleanup and will be experimenting with innovative ways
to accomplish that order. Barr hopes the refuge can benefit
from that research.
Barr's first partnering
was with The Nature Conservancy. In 1997, the group decided
to find an agency that could own and manage its preserve in
the dunes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was a natural
choice.
"Chris Barr and the
Fish and Wildlife Service will do a much better job protecting
the resources out there," said Kara Smith, project manager
with The Nature Conservancy.
Barr, a Cal Poly graduate,
was working at the Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge
at the time and was excited about the prospect of establishing
a refuge on the Central Coast. He wanted to be the new manager.
"I'm there," he vowed
to himself.
Since becoming manager,
Barr has worked with state and county parks departments to
share scarce resources.
"I'm a one-man show,"
he explained.
One of his most important
partnerships is with the Dunes Center, a nonprofit environmental
and educational organization. Refuge headquarters are next
to the center's new offices in downtown Guadalupe.
Karen Wood, Dunes Center
executive director, said she is pleased the refuge has been
established.
"The refuge brings with
it a lot of expertise," she said. "It will help us implement
our research library, which will be housed in the refuge's
office space."
Farmers whose fields
surround the refuge are another group Barr is trying to help.
Hikers sometimes trespass on farmland to reach the refuge,
and Barr, who works armed and has law-enforcement authority,
is warning them to respect private property boundaries.
Barr has also been working
with civic and business leaders in Guadalupe. All are hoping
the refuge will pump some much-needed tourist dollars into
the town's economy.
"This is where we need
to go with the community," said Guadalupe Mayor Sam Arca.
"We need to move more toward this area of ecotourism."
The refuge should put
Guadalupe on ecotourism maps. Some nature enthusiasts try
to visit all of the nation's 520 wildlife refuges to get stamps
in their Blue Duck Passports, a collector's book so named
because the blue silhouette of a duck in flight is one of
the main features of the Fish and Wildlife Service logo.
Arca's only concern
is that the refuge's beach might be closed to protect nesting
plovers, as was done at some public beaches on Vandenberg
Air Force Base.
"I really hope they
don't close that beach," Arca said. "What good is the nature
and beauty if you can't go out and enjoy it?"
That's not likely to
happen, Barr said. The remote location of the refuge and the
relatively small number of plovers mean the birds can be protected
without limiting access.
"It's a very manageable
area," Barr said.

The
Tribune: July 7, 2000
Cal
Poly cleans up
Corporation gives $5.6M to fund site reclamation work
Unocal Corporation gave
Cal Poly $5.6 million Thursday to finance research and technology
for restoring petroleum-contaminated sites, particularly its
own Guadalupe oil field.
The donation is one
of the largest the university has ever received, Cal Poly
President Warren Baker said during a morning ceremony on campus
that drew more than 100 Cal Poly and Unocal executives.
The money will go into
the College of Science and Mathematics Environmental Biotechnology
Institute and enhance the existing partnership between the
college and the oil company, Baker said.
EBI is working with
Unocal to find ways to clean up the massive petroleum spill
at the oil field. Between 8.5 and 20 million gallons of petroleum
products have been spilled at the Guadalupe site, but there
is no known way to clean up the contamination without destroying
the fragile coastal dune habitat at the oil field.
During Thursday's ceremony,
Baker thanked Unocal for already involving Poly faculty and
students in research to clean up the dunes. Baker also commended
the company for its remediation work in Avila Beach, where
the whole town is being rebuilt.
Because of its research
assistance potential, said Baker, "this gift provides a lasting
legacy ... that will have worldwide applications."
Unocal helped launch
the EBI with a $1.3 million grant in 1996. The latest donation
will include $2 million for construction of EBI facilities
in the university's anticipated new science and mathematics
building, $1.5 million over three years to continue research
at the Guadalupe field, and $1 million to endow a chair, occupied
by microbiology professor Raul Cano, in environmental sciences.
"He's internationally
recognized as a scientist and dedicated educator," Baker said
of Cano, who is currently directing a team of faculty and
students conducting research in Unocal's Guadalupe oil field
to improve technology called bioremediation. "He's a model
for us all."
Cano, a specialist in
paleobiology and molecular evolution, gained notice in 1993
when he discovered and extracted Dinosaur-Age DNA from insects
preserved in amber.
He was grateful for
the Unocal gift. "When I left Cuba in 1962," said Cano, "I
never expected my life was going to be this good."
Mark Smith, Unocal's
vice president for real estate, remediation services and mining
operations, acknowledged County Supervisor Chairwoman Peg
Pinard "who keeps us in line and doing the right thing."
Pinard said just before
the ceremony that she thinks the donation is a good way for
Unocal to help apologize for all the problems the companys
leaks have caused.
"I think Unocal is saying,
if we're going to be such a big presence in the community,
let's make it a positive one. "

The
Tribune: July 7, 2000
Unocal
boosts Poly program
New era of research expected in bioremediation of 0il-tainted
soil
A $5.6 million cash
donation from Unocal Corp. will likely usher a new era of
research for Cal Poly's Environmental Biotechnology Institute,
according to renowned local scientist Raul Cano.
A Cal Poly microbiology
professor who directs the EBI, Cano said the Unocal gift announced
Thursday will broaden the diversity of the students and faculty
who take part in the institute's studies to include researchers
from outside of Poly.
"There are many institutes
in the CSU (California State University), but this is the
only one focusing on environmental biotechnology," Cano said.
"We're not at the point of bringing students in from elsewhere,
but now we can start reaching out to other campuses, for students
and faculty.
"(Without this donation)
I can say we would have done the same thing, but it would
have taken us 15 or 20 more years."
The EBI is a group of
Poly faculty and staff who research a variety of biotechnology
issues, but focus largely on bioremediation, the science of
using natural processes to break down environmental contaminants.
The donation is just
the latest stage of a more than three-year relationship between
the Cal Poly think tank and petroleum giant Unocal.
The EBI began in 1996
as the brainchild of Cano, who had gained prior national attention
for reviving 40 million-year-old bacteria extracted from honeybees
fossilized in amber and analyzing tissue in a 5,300-year-old
human corpse. His DNA research was credited for inspiring
the book and movie "Jurassic Park."
Unocal helped launch
the institute with a $1.3 million grant.
The institute, a collaborative
research project aimed at developing"environmentally sensitive"
technology to aid petroleum companies in restoring contaminated
sites, is part of Cal Poly's College of Science and Mathematics.
Cano said the idea for
the institute was to provide a means for Cal Poly scientists
to conduct research and to get Poly students in on the act.
"We wanted to go beyond
the idea of a normal institute and make sure we enhanced the
Cal Poly student research experience," Cano said. "At the
time, microbiology was shifting focus from medical to environmental.
So we focused primarily on bioremediation as a mechanism for
removing contamination."
Almost immediately,
EBI organizers hooked up with Unocal in what Cano said was
a mutually desirable pairing.
"In 1996, the institute
was newly-founded," Cano said. "We knew Unocal was undergoing
some difficulties (at its Guadalupe Oil Field), and we felt
we had the expertise. We gave them a proposal, they modified
it to fit their research needs, and we started doing research
in November 1996."
Since then, EBI scientists
have looked at the organisms involved in bioremediation at
the Guadalupe Oil Field and have tried to stimulate the process.
"I think its been one
of the best things about the project," said Gonzalo Garcia,
who oversees Unocal's excavation of contaminated sand at the
Guadalupe field.
"They have offered a
very high level of scientific excellence and highly-skilled
people looking at the problems here and finding better ways
of doing the cleanup. We started with just baby steps, but
the relationship has gone beyond the microbial stuff."
Students and faculty
are now researching endangered plants and developing brand
new techniques in replanting the contaminated area with native
plants that also destroy hydrocarbons in the groundwater.
"It's a truly perfect
situation, win-win for both sides," Garcia said. "The third
winner is the community."
The EBI has studied
outside of Guadalupe, too, Cano said. The institute is almost
finished mapping the genome of a common bacteria that may
open up new human health benefits. As well, EBI scientists
are researching occurrences and possible prevention of food
poisoning in dairy products.
But Cano said the institute
is proud of the positive impacts it has facilitated in Guadalupe
and he looks forward to continued environmental improvement
there and more hands-on research opportunities for students.
"We have more than 40
students involved right now, and those are more or less permanent
fixtures," Cano said. "We have others who come on board just
for a specific project, then move on. We like to get them
early, though, so they start their senior projects as sophomores.
"That is what distinguishes
our institute from many others. The students are an integral
part of the discovery process."

The
Tribune: March 31, 2000
Plight
of the snowy plover
Resource Managers Close Public Beaches to Stem Further
Losses
A tiny shore bird is
starting to cast a very long shadow along beaches of the Central
Coast. The western snowy plover, already listed as threatened
on the federal endangered species list, suffered a significant
population drop during the 1997 El Nino weather event and
its populations have not recovered.
"The plovers are clearly
in trouble," said Mark Massara with the Sierra Club's coastal
program. "Without immediate and dramatic measures, the bird
may be extinct within a few years."
In response, the Air
Force recently announced that more than 11 miles of beaches
at Vandenberg Air force Base would be closed during spring
and summer; including Ocean Beach, which is popular with Lompoc
residents. The base had an estimated 220 adult birds before
El Niño, but only 78 were counted last year, said Lee
Ann Naue, a bilogist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
in Ventura. "If we are going to help these species recover,
we are going to have to have some beaches that are completely
closed," she said. The agency says that further beach closures
are unlikely, but other resources managers are taking some
unusual steps to protect the bird and help it recover.
The state parks department
is drawing up a habitat conservation plan to outline ways
to manage the plovers and other endangered species on park
land in the county, said Joe Mette, parks superintendent.
"We don't have any plans
for beach closures, but we've got some tough sledding ahead
to get the plovers back to the numbers they once were," he
said. At the Guadalupe oil field, independent researchers
are experimenting with creating habitat that is beneficial
to the plovers. The program has met with some success, said
Tom Jordan, the project's ecological coordinator.
Artificial sand dunes
have been created and driftwood and other beach debris has
been scattered over a stretch of beach that was cleaned up
for oil pollution over the winter. Ten nesting pairs of the
birds are active at the oil field and two have already laid
eggs. "At least we are sure they are coming back," Jordan
said.
The snowy plover is
a tiny bird that could fit in the palm of a person's hand.
They are found along beaches and the shores of coastal lakes
and nest from March through September.
Their nesting and rearing
habits make them particularly vulnerable to human disturbance.
They lay their eggs in tiny depressions scraped in the sand
near the beach vegetation line. They are easily driven off
of their nests by people or pets walking by or vehicles driven
on the beach.
A variety of wild animals
and pets kill the birds and eat their eggs. Additionally,
hatchlings the size of a quarter must scurry to the edge of
the surf to feed within hours of being born.
"You could step on one
and not even know it," Naue said.
The beaches at Vandenberg
were targeted for closure because they are federal property
where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has greater authority.
Also, the Air Force Base contains the largest block of plover
habitat and is the most likely place the bird could stage
a comeback, Naue said.
San Luis Obispo County
has six beaches that are considered crucial plover habitat.
Pismo Beach, Guadalupe Dunes and the sand spit at Morro Bay
are considered the best habitat with San Carpoforo Creek near
Ragged Point and Toro Creek and Morro Strand Beach north of
Morro Bay having lesser quality habitat.
Most of these beaches
are managed by the state Parks Department. Rangers have developed
a system for protecting the plovers, Mette said.
During the nesting season
spotters are sent out to find nesting Birds. Once a nest is
discovered, an orange enclosure fence is erected around it.
Theis is effective at
keeping humans and pets out but can alert wild predators,
such as coyotes, fox and raccoons, that the nests are there,
Mette said.
"Everybody is sort of
wading into this without knowing exactly how its going to
turn out," he said.

Santa
Maria Times: March 17, 2000
A
couple of pills for West Valley ills
Eric Firpo Column
Call it cosmetic surgery
for the hidden scars of an extraordinary landscape, but know
it's also a cure for the disease.
The eco-experiment that's
soon to get going in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes isn't happening
anywhere else in the world, but it hopes to create a benchmark
that might be used everywhere, at least everywhere there's
underground oil contamination.
The dunes have plenty
of that, though not as much as it once did, thanks to Unocal's
ongoing efforts to dig up subterranean pools of oil that once
leaked from a vest web of the company's buried pipelines.
Trouble is, you can't
dig all the pollution up.
So how do you remove
what's left behind, the stuff floating atop the water table?
And how do you put once-pristine sand dunes back together
again after its been ripped apart by heavy equipment? As it
turns out, the answer to both questions might be the same.
You plant trees such as willows and cottonwoods, plants with
roots that reach the water table, "phyreatophytes" to the
botanists of the world, vegetation that actually eats up underground
oil contamination.
Due to the brain trust
at Cal Poly's biological sciences department, we now have
a theoretical good thing with a long name, "phytoremediation."
The use of plants such as willows to get rid of oil production.
If the trees work their
magic, it could prove to be a cheap, low-tech solution to
a modern by-product of the industrial revolution.
It'll be a few years
before it can be called a success of a failure.
This fall, professors
at Cal Poly will be handed as many as nine acres in the dunes
for a science experiment that's got a whole department excited.
"If this works, it will
set standards for what will occur elsewhere in the world,"
said Poly professor and department chair V.L. Holland.
