Oxnard Leadership Program ramps up the Energy (and Environment)

​Last month, the 2024 Oxnard Leadership Program (OLP) covered everything from the land, sea and air for their sixth session of the year, Energy & Environment Day as they met with representatives throughout the day from Aera Energy, Western States Petroleum Association, Southern California Edison, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Weather Service. The agenda for the day was meticulously put together by Justin Campbell, Director of Remediation & Environmental Compliance Services for Catalyst Environmental Solutions, as well as 2018 OLP Alum. 
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The day started at the Aera Energy Clubhouse in West Ventura off of Hwy 33 surrounded by oil pump jacks. There, Justin kicked things off with a presentation overviewing the energy needs and resources in California and Ventura County. He covered a wide variety of energy sources by breaking them down into non-renewable and renewable categories, and dove into issues to consider, like battery storage, infrastructure upgrades and solar usage only being available during the day, as well as starting at the back end by keeping in mind what it takes for all of that to be produced.
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Next up to present at the Clubhouse was Ben Oakley from the Western States Petroleum Association, who talked about the changes to California oil regulations and the effect it has had on foreign oil dependence and prices at the pump. That paved the path for Matt Wyatt from Aera Energy to share about the work Aera Energy is doing at their oil field, the 10th largest in California, like implementing environmentally safe practices and preparing for the future with carbon capturing technology. He then led the group outside to show the pump jacks in action and explain how their design from almost a century ago is still effective today.

From there, the group drove to the local Southern California Edison (SCE) office on the east end of Ventura where lunch, provided by Catalyst Environmental Solutions, was waiting along with Natalie Yanez, SCE Government Relations Manager and Vice Chair of the WVCBA Board of Directors, who presented about SCE‘s Countdown To 2045, a conversation about achieving net zero goals. Other topics she covered included limiting outages, upgrading infrastructure, keeping rates reasonable and protecting the community.

The program then officially moved into Oxnard where Goodwill Industries of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties graciously let us use their board room for an OLP first, a presentation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about the Halaco Superfund Site. Holly Arrigoni, Remedial Project Manager, and Melissa Lasanta-Edwards, Community Involvement Coordinator, braved the Friday traffic on the 405 and 101 to share about the history, current status and proposals to remediate the environmental and human health threats at the site near Ormond Beach.

To end off the day with a bang, and another OLP first, the group went a couple blocks down the road for a presentation and tour of the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office, which is “responsible for providing weather information for Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties, as well as adjacent coastal waters out 60 nautical miles.” Their senior meteorologist, Todd Hall, shared about all the weather events they are monitoring for forecasts, warnings, watches and advisories to protect life and property. They finished with a tour of the operations center, which is staffed 24/7, 365 days a year, as well as a large outdoor display which shows the different tool and devices used to monitor and measure the weather.