Mar. 26--The Australian oil company that was seeking a permit to explore for oil in the Huasna Valley has withdrawn its application.

Excelaron announced late Wednesday afternoon that it had withdrawn its application to the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission until it conducts a full environmental impact report.

The commission was set to hold a public hearing on the debated oil drilling today, with many residents expected to speak out against it.

Excelaron was seeking a permit to use four existing wells to explore for oil and had hoped to begin drilling by next year. But it has faced stiff opposition from nearby residents of the quaint community of 400.

They claimed that it could ruin their rural quality of life, excrete unknown amounts of pollutants, harm local wildlife and possibly taint their water supply. The last time oil was sought there was in the 1980s, and the Huasna Valley Association -- an organized group of concerned residents -- did not want to see the field reopened.

Representatives from Excelaron downplay the community's concerns, claiming the impact would be minimal and not felt by most residents.

The company ultimately pulled its application, saying the full environmental report was needed before the application went before the commission and the public.

Opponents mobilize

Opponents had joined forces in recent months. They held town-hall meetings and hosted barbecues to raise money for their cause.

Their actions pushed Excelaron to change its proposed trucking route, which originally would have gone through the village of Arroyo Grande, to one that uses roads on private land. At this point, trucks would drive 1.5 miles east on Huasna Townsite Road before entering a private ranch.

The oil would then be sent to a refinery -- possibly in Santa Maria or Oxnard -- to be used as tar to make asphalt or to be made into fuel.

Ron Skinner, president of the Huasna Valley Association, said that too much energy will be used to produce a possibly small amount of oil that will not lessen America's dependence on foreign oil, as Excelaron claims.

"Living out in the country, we believe in property rights, but we don't feel the mineral rights of foreign investors should trump the property and clean-water rights of tax-paying Americans," Skinner said.

He has suggested a pipeline to transport the oil, but Excelaron President Grant Jagelman rejected that option, saying the cost and environmental impacts would be excessive.