San Benito County supervisors respond to $1.2 billion lawsuit

Tuesday County supervisors responded to a lawsuit filed soon after Measure J passed on November 4, 2014.

A news conference was held at the courthouse in Hollister about the lawsuit filed by Citadel Exploration seeking damages from the county.

Supervisors Robert Rivas and Anthony Botelho supported Measure J, which bans fracking and other oil extraction methods in San Benito County.

Measure J won on election night with 59% of the votes.

Tuesday supervisor Robert Rivas said Measure J is legal and defensible and that the oil companies “think they can bully our county.”

Supervisors went on to say that Measure J was based on the authority of local governments in “home rule” states like California to use zoning and land use laws to control heavy industrial activities.

Botelho said he decided to support Measure J to protect the county’s agriculture heritage. He went on to say that although he believes the owners of private property should have broad discretion on how to use their land, he also doesn’t believe that use should “degrade the properties around them and the well being of the community.”

County attorneys are looking at the lawsuit and have 30 days to issues a response from the time the lawsuit was filed. The Measure J campaign also said it is looking at hiring attorneys to help fight the lawsuit saying “the people of San Benito County won’t be intimidated by the bullying tactics of the oil industry.”

Calls to Citadel Exploration by NewsChannel 5 were not immediately returned at the time of this article.