The State - News from Aug. 9, 1987

Thirteen local governments from Sonoma County to San Diego were named in a lawsuit that seeks to overturn ordinances that restrict construction of on-shore facilities to handle oil produced from federal leases on the Outer Continental Shelf. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court by the Western Oil and Gas Assn. and the National Ocean Industries Assn., asks the court to rule that the local ordinances are unconstitutional infringements on the federal government. Specifically, the suit claims the local measures, which have been enacted by elected officials or adopted by voters, violate the due process, federal supremacy and commerce clauses of the Constitution. Named in the suit are the counties of Sonoma, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and San Diego, the combined city and county of San Francisco, and the cities of Monterey, Morro Bay, Oceanside, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz.