Baldwin Hills Oil Fields

All posts tagged Baldwin Hills Oil Fields

CAP Meeting January 22, 2015

Posted by Antoine Durr on January 20, 2015
Posted in: Announcements, PXP Oil. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

For those of you following the goings-on at the oil fields, this from the Community Health Councils:

The next Community Advisory Panel Meeting (CAP) for the Inglewood Oil Field is this Thursday, January 22nd from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. at the Kenneth Hahn Recreation Area Community Center. The meeting will include a presentation by the Natural Resource Defense Council on one of the organization’s recent reports, “Drilling in California: Who’s at Risk”. The report identifies the number and demographics of people living near oil and gas wells. The report also outlines recommendations for preventing further environmental and public health threats. Please review the attached meeting agenda and last meeting minutes for additional information on the upcoming meeting.

 

CSD Five Year Review

Posted by Antoine Durr on May 20, 2013
Posted in: PXP Oil. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The Los Angeles County ordinance regulating the oil field in the Baldwin Hills includes a provision requiring 5 year reviews to determine if modifications should be made.  Since we are approaching the fifth anniversary of the ordinance, the County is now beginning the review process.

The first step is to solicit community input as to what works and does not work in the current ordinance, and whether new provisions should be added or existing provisions removed or modified.  There are several opportunities for residents to provide input on these matters.

First, you can attend the May 23, 2013 meeting of the Community Advisory Panel (CAP), which will be primarily devoted to this topic.  Suggestions made at this meeting will be recorded by the County and will be considered as part of the review process.  This meeting will be held at the community center at Kenneth Hahn Park at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 23.   A copy of the official notice of the meeting can be found online at planning.lacounty.gov/baldwinhills/cap

Second, you can submit your comments on a survey form that has been prepared by the County.  This survey can be accessed online by going to planning.lacounty.gov/baldwinhills/csd and clicking on the “Go to Survey” link.  If you would prefer not to complete the survey online, you can print out the PDF copy of the survey, complete it by hand, and send it to Rena Kambara, County Planner, 320 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA  90012.

Finally, you can submit comments by sending an email to Rena at rkambara@planning.lacounty.gov

In this scoping phase of the process, the goal is to generate an extensive list of potential changes, so that the County can consider the widest possible range of options and decide upon the ones that will have the most beneficial impact.  During a very brief discussion of this topic at the April CAP meeting, some of the potential issues mentioned were:

  • Add provisions regulating fracking at the field
  • Increase the amount of insurance and bonds that PXP is required to maintain
  • Expand the role of the CAP from simply disseminating information
  • Provide remedies for homeowners who claim their homes have been damaged by oil field drilling operations

The above list will hopefully give some idea of the potential changes that could be considered.  However, everyone hopes that the process will generate a much more extensive list.

So, if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please pass them on to the County via any of the methods described above.

PXP Amended Drilling Plan Submitted

Posted by Antoine Durr on December 11, 2012
Posted in: PXP Oil. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

PXP has submitted an Amended 2013 Drilling Plan to the County for approval.  The County is now accepting public comments, but the comment period is quite short, ending on December 20.  The essential purpose of the Amended Plan is to increase the number of wells PXP can drill in 2013, with the amendment allowing them to drill 53, the maximum number allowed by the CSD and the Settlement Agreement.

If you want to read the Amended Plan, it can be found at http://www.inglewoodoilfield.com/plans, where it is currently at the top of the list labeled “Plans Reviewed by CAP.” (The label is somewhat misleading, since the Amended Plan has not been reviewed by the CAP.  While it was mentioned by PXP at our last meeting, it was not made available until after the meeting, and comments must be submitted well before the next CAP meeting.)

We encourage you to submit your comments regarding this Amended Plan.   (Only four comment letters were submitted for for the original 2013 Drilling Plan last fall, and aside from the letter written by our own John Kuechle, none of them came from Culver Crest.)
As you may have heard, PXP is being acquired by the much larger Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold, Inc.  While shareholder approvals still remain to be obtained, the current thinking is that the merger will close this June.  We were told at the CAP meeting that this will not change the management team responsible for the Baldwin Hills oil field.

To Frack Or Not To Frack

Posted by Antoine Durr on June 29, 2012
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The Culver City Council on Monday July 2, 2012 7:00pm, will consider a fracking resolution, i.e. whether to allow hydraulic fracturing oil drilling in and under Culver City.  The Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community (and others) urge you to attend Monday night’s Culver City Council meeting, and have provided a fact sheet to help formulate questions.