For 40 days and 40 nights, PXP, the Plains, Exploration & Production Co., which specializes in oil drilling, has been transformed into the community’s arch-villain.
PXP’s middle name may as well be Obama — their image, their reputation scarcely could have taken a tougher hit.
Ever since allegedly tainted — or tilted — preparatory documents to cover the next and largest-ever round of drilling in the Baldwin Hills oil field were released by the County government on June 20, it has been raining non-stop criticism, almost of Biblical proportions, on PXP.
What is understood to be the most crucial meeting of the 60-day public comment period is scheduled for Saturday at 12 noon on the campus of West L.A. College — a listening session for the County Regional Planning Commission.
Just a Cameo
There, the hundreds of worried, fearful, and in some cases angry, residents from among the one million persons who potentially could be affected, will gain a glance at the face of PXP — Steve Rusch, executive vice president, the chief spokesman in Los Angeles for the Texas-based company.
It is anticipated that Mr. Rusch probably will not make more than a cameo appearance with a truncated speaking role as the planning commissioners wade through dozens who are expected to speak out in criticism and protest.
Interestingly during the 40 days and 40 nights of blistering critique of the drilling company, its history, its policies, and its perceived coziness with the County, Mr. Rusch has been mostly silent. By no stretch could it be said that PXP has fought back.
Rather than engage, Mr. Rusch said he has chosen to take a position on the sidelines until the environmental impact report is official and final. As for the kerfuffle over PXP’s authorship of the Community Standards District — the manual, or rulebook, that will govern future drilling in the Baldwin Hills — a document currently being heatedly debated — there seems to be a matter of nuance involved, depending upon one’s perspective.
Worried residents from Culver Crest and surrounding neighborhoods wonder how a rulebook can be authenticated when it was written by the company in question instead of a disinterested but knowledgeable third party.
Applause for PXP?
Across the table, Mr. Rusch said his company should gain credit for voluntarily stepping forward to perform the thankless chore, drawing upon the wisdom of other areas to bring perceived strict guidelines to a project where hard and fast rules, seriously monitored, historically have been absent.
Repeating a statement he often made 2 years ago after the now infamous overnight gas leak routed Culver Crest residents, Mr. Rusch said “PXP wants to be a good neighbor. I believe we have kept our promises about mitigations. People may remember that I apologized a number of times after this happened. I explained what happened, and I told the City Council and others that we had the solutions. I believe the EIR mitigates what we talked about.”
During the runup to the October vote on the oil drilling documents by the County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Rusch said that PXP carefully has been following the process established by the California Environmental Quality Act.
“We just want to develop a good relationship,” he said.
Alluding to the organized and aggressive resident-protection campaign developed by Culver Crest leaders, Mr. Rusch was critical.
“The tactics they have tried, to date, do not promote good conversation,” he said. Wwhat did he meant by “tactics”? “I will leave it at that,” Mr. Rusch said.
