Torrance Daily Breeze 03/20/2014, CITY COUNCIL MORATORIUM Carson OKs ban on oil drilling permits, blocking Occidental By Sandy Mazza Carson City Council members have slapped a ban on any new oil and gas development in the city for the next 45 days, effectively stalling a proposed Occidental Petroleum Corp. drilling project that is unpopular with residents. The unanimous vote came late Tuesday night, after residents and environmental advocates spent two hours arguing in favor of the temporary ban. The city is in the midst of a comment period for a draft environmental impact report on the project, which seeks to install 200 new oil and gas drilling wells inside a 30-foot-high walled compound on a 6.5-acre site near Cal State Dominguez Hills. The moratorium blocks the city from accepting any permit applications for drilling, re-drilling or deepening of any oil or gas well. “There are too many questions, too many concerns and possible bad consequences,” said Councilman Al Robles, who introduced the ordinance. “The questions and possible risks significantly outweigh the possible benefits. I like to go to Las Vegas and gamble but it’s always withmyownmoneyandatmy own risk. I refuse to gamble with the health and well-being of the residents of Carson.” Robles advanced the moratorium idea earlier this month in response to ongoing complaints from a vocal group of residents who believe their health and quality of life will be damaged if Occidental is allowed to develop the site over the Dominguez Oil Field, which already has 600 abandoned wells from previous drilling projects that stopped in the 1990s. Occidental has had two test wells there since 2011 and, using modern directional drilling methods, pulled enough oil from deep underground that the company believes it can generate 6,000 barrels of oil and 3 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day when peak production is reached. Though Occidental officials have repeatedly promised not to use aggressive extraction methods like fracking, residents continue to express distrust with the company. “The oil companies have drilled there for 100 years, and now all the easy-to-getout oil is gone and ‘Big Oil’ has to resort to riskier methods,” resident Glen White told the council Tuesday. “They get all the profits. We get all the risks. Their profits, our resources.” Members of Washington D.C.-based Food & Water Watch, Communities for a Better Environment of Huntington Park, and the Palos Verdes-South Bay Sierra Club also asked the council to pass the ban. Last month, the Los Angeles City Council banned any use of controversial well-enhancement methods such as hydraulic fracturing, gravel packing and acidizing. Those aggressive oil-extraction tactics have been banned by several states already because of concerns about environmental risks such as earthquakes and chemical contamination of groundwater supplies. Carson City Attorney Bill Wynder said he and other staff members will study the dangers of oil and gas extraction during the moratorium and return to the council with a recommendation on how to move forward. The council could potentially extend the moratorium for another two years. “A moratorium is essentially a time-out to study the issues and report back to the council,” Wynder said. “The ordinance directs us, as legal counsel and staff, to study the scope of the city’s regulatory authority regarding land use” and other issues. “The moratorium does not end the Occidental project. We’re just studying the scope of our legal authority.” “There are too many questions, too many concerns and possible bad consequences. The questions and possible risks significantly outweigh the possible benefits.” — Carson Councilman Al Robles
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 13:50:58 +0000
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