This is the Community Standards District (a zoning overlay) that we, the CCNA, think would be a significantly improved starting point than the CSD that was authored by PXP Oil. The Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance is organized by the Community Health Councils, and while CSD is published by the GBHA, we think of it as “our own”, as it was created in huge part by your neighbors Ken Kutcher and John Kuechle.

Here are upcoming events regarding the PXP Oil EIR:

• Tonight ( Friday July 11, 2008 ) is a meeting at the Community Health Councils Headquarters at 3731 Stocker Street, Suite 201. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m, and will be similar to the meeting at Antoine and Jini Durr’s house.  If you are interested in what’s going on and you couldn’t make it to the meeting at Antoine and Jini Durr’s house last night, please attend and get involved.

• The next major event will be at the Vet’s Auditorium at 4117 Overland on Thursday, July 17 at 7:00 p.m. This will be a County of Los Angeles EIR Workshop. The Draft Environmental Impact Report will be discussed and the County will explain what it means to us. It is imperative that we fill the place. Please make plans to attend this very important meeting. 

• There will also be a workshop on Tuesday, July 22 at 7:00 p.m. at Knox Presbyterian Church at 5840 La Tijera Blvd. in Los Angeles. If you can’t make the first workshop, please try to attend the second.

• Most important of all will be the County Regional Planning Commission Public Hearings. They will be held on Saturday, August 2 at 12:00 noon at the West Los Angeles College Auditorium, Room FA100. If you don’t go anywhere else, it is critical to the cause that you attend the one at West Los Angeles College. The County Commissioners will be there to hear the citizens concerns about this whole issue. They will be our captive audience.  We’re not asking you to be there; we’re insisting that you be there. This will be the meeting that will allow us to show our strength in this matter.

• There will be a second hearing on Wednesday, August 27 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 150 at the Hall Administration Auditorium at 320 West Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles).

Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke has announced that PXP Oil will not seek new drilling permits before October 21, 2008, thus effectively continuing the moratorium placed on them in June of last year’s emergency interim ordinance.

The Draft EIR for the Baldwin Hills Oil Fields has been released.  It’s big.  It’s Really Big.  You can download it here.  Did we tell you it’s big?  It’s 1400 pages.  That link you just clicked on is a 162 MEGABYTE PDF document!  In the meantime, here’s the announcement by the Department of Regional Planning.