Settlement reached in Measure Z lawsuit

A settlement has been reached in a highly-contested battle involving Monterey County and oil companies.

It’s a win for both sides as a costly legal battle between Monterey County and big oil is done, at least for now.

Under the settlement, any fracking in Monterey County, except for the former Fort Ord area, will be strictly prohibited to anyone who might want to start. The ban goes into effect immediately, and any applications for state permits to conduct any form of fracking will be referred to the county. The county board of supervisors think it’s a win not only for Measure Z supporters, but for the county as a whole because of the millions of dollars in attorney fees they could have potentially had to spend.

“That’s a lot of money. The county is facing a large budget deficit at this time, and we think it’s prudent financially to avoid those costs of potentially attorneys fees in this case and also upholding the fracking ban at the same time,” said Monterey County Supervisor Charles McKee.

Measure Z is an initiative passed in late 2016 that bans fracking and limits, quote, “risky oil operations” in Monterey County. After several lawsuits by oil companies that challenged Measure Z, a judge overturned key parts of the initiative early this year, but didn’t make a firm decision on fracking as no companies were currently practicing it in Monterey County. once again after this settlement, fracking will now be strictly prohibited.

While the settlement bans fracking, it didn’t touch any other issues involved with Measure Z that were overturned, including the ability to drill new oil and gas wells. That’s an issue that could be re-visited in the future.