… then this message is for you.

August 2 is D-day!

This is the day on which we decide to go to the beach, or show up at noon at West L.A. College’s Theatre to speak to L.A. County Regional Planning Commissioners to let them know that we do not want PXP Oil Company to turn Culver City into a Cancer Zone.  We must show that we are a force to be heard and to not just let PXP bowl over the County with its proposed plan.

PXP, the oil company operating in the Baldwin Hills oil fields, is proposing to drill an additional 1000 wells and continue to operation the current 436, plus reactivate a good portion of the 600 dormant wells on their property.   Do you want 2,000 wells pumping 24/7 in our “backyards”?  

The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and regulations PXP is proposing would make it legal to drill with 500 feet from your home, hospital, health or educational facility.   It contends that it is okay to drill within 50 feet of an active earthquake fault zone.  If there is an escape of toxic fumes (which has occurred in the past), it could encompass most if not all of Culver City.  PXP’s current operating standards are for the most part antiquated yet there has been little or no testing of many of their practices.  They are too numerous to list here but we are challenging them all.  Please visit our website at www.culvercrest.org for more information on this issue.

More startling, if this EIR is approved by the County, it sets PXP’s operating standards for the next 20 years.  We would be powerless to make any adjustments short of a disaster, at which time it would be too late. 

Is this what you want to expose yourself, your children and family to?  If not, it is urgent that all of us attend the noon on Saturday, August 2nd meeting at WLAC and bring all of your concerned neighbors!

We must speak up now!

There will be signs directing you to the auditorium once you’re on campus.

Thanking you in advance for your participation.

The Board of the Culver Crest Neighborhood Association.

Here is information from the County regarding how to submit comments about the Draft EIR and CSD:

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Community Standards District (CSD) are available for review and comment until August 19, 2008.  Please see the information below on how you can submit your comments.

Hardcopies of the Draft EIR are located at View Park Library, 3854 West 54th St. Los Angeles and Culver City Julian Dixon Library, 4975 Overland Ave, Culver City, as well as in PDF format online at the two links above.

Submit your written comments by August 19, 2008 to one of the addresses below.  You can email your comments to either of the individuals below or to commplan@planning.lacounty.gov and they will be promptly forwarded to the appropriate party. If you email in comments, we recommend sending a cc: via snail mail.

Comments on the Draft EIR should be directed to: 

Paul McCarthy
Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning
Impact Analysis, Hall of Records
320 W. Temple Street, Rm. 1348
Los Angeles, CA 90012
pmccarthy@planning.lacounty.gov
 
Comments on the applicant proposed Community Standards District should be directed to:

Russell J. Fricano
Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning
Community Studies I, Hall of Records
320 W. Temple Street, Rm. 1340
Los Angeles, CA 90012
rfricano@planning.lacounty.gov

To submit comments on both the Draft EIR and proposed CSD or to learn more about the project, please visit: http://planning.lacounty.gov/baldwinhillscsd

Note: the CSD in question is the one by PXP, not ours, i.e. they’re taking comments on the official one. The comments could of course be: “use ours!”

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).