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.

Your C.C.N.A. Board has been involved in an enormous amount of activity regarding the PXP Oil Fields.  We have attended many meetings sponsored by the Community Health Council that along with Culver Crest, encompass many neighborhoods bordering the oil fields.  There is a movement to bring the conditions of the oil fields and potential damage their activities may cause to the general public, who for the most part are unaware of the consequences of a mishap caused there.  The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) of the proposed future activities of the oil fields is due to be released in mid-June.  Along with that, there is a Community Standards District (CSD), which outlines the framework of the DEIR.  The public will have 60 days after the official release of the DEIR to comment on its content at a public hearing held by Los Angeles County.  There will be a workshop set up at the Vets Center here in Culver City to provide the public with the parameters of both the EIR and CSD.  At this workshop, there will be technical guidance on how to read the EIR and what impact it will have on the residents in the surrounding areas.  The public will have an opportunity to partake in meaningful discussions prior to the hearing.  It is essential that Culver Crest residents attend this workshop to learn more about this issue.  As soon as the time and date is set, we will inform the Crest.  

There are many other action items taking place regarding the oil fields that can’t be detailed here.  In due time, we will inform you of the progress being made and how you can be involved in the process.  This is a very hot issue with major consequences if we don’t act to manage the activity of PXP.

A Houston oil company has agreed to shut down its offshore oil production off Santa Barbara County decades early in exchange for approval this year to drill into untapped undersea reserves and cash in on the nation’s record oil prices. 

The complete article can be viewed at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oil11apr11,0,6514396.story 

On behalf of the CCNA, a public records act request has been submitted to Rose Hamilton, the Assistant Administrator of the Regional Planning Department of the County of Los Angeles.  Requested were:

1. All contracts and agreements with regards to the preparation of the Baldwin Hills EIR and CSD, and especially the contracts with John Pierson of Marine Research Specialists (the folks who are creating the EIR), and any contracts the County has with PXP for reimbursement of EIR costs.
2. All portions of the EIR that have been shared with any employee, representative, officer, or agent of PXP Oil.  It seems that PXP has been given a copy of the screencheck EIR, which we were told was for “internal” review only — internal to the County, that is.