A santa barbara county-based company has withdrawn an application to look for oil and natural gas on the central coast. Venoco, llc, withdrew the application, after it became likely that the monterey county planning commission would deny it anyway. An appeal of a permit that had already been granted, was set to be heard yesterday. The company had been given permission to drill up to 9-exploratory wells, on 3-parcels of land off of jolon road. However, opponents of the project cited concerns about the method that would be used in the drilling process, known as “hydraulic fracturing.” “fracking” has been more frequently used by oil and gas companies, however opponents say it causes harm to the environment.
