U.S. EPA Issues Discharge Permit for California Offshore Oil Platforms

Permit limits the amount of pollutants from oil and gas operations that can be discharged into the ocean from platforms located four or more miles from the California coast

Source EPA

Sept. 16, 2004

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today approved a final discharge permit for oil and gas offshore oil platforms located in federal waters off the coast of California.

The discharge permit limits the amount of pollutants from oil and gas operations that can be discharged into the ocean from platforms located four or more miles from the California coast.

"Today's permit provides for greater environmental protection than we've had over the last 20 years," said, Alexis Strauss, the EPA's water division director for the Pacific Southwest region. "And it provides the mechanism to set more protective limits in the future if warranted through further study."

The permit, signed this past Tuesday, will be effective Dec. 1.

Source: EPA