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After 6 consecutive weeks of unrelieved reporting, especially of the contrary viewpoints on stepped-up oil drilling in Baldwin Hills, have you heard enough? Or have you simply had enough?
With roughly the force of a hurricane, a gentleman of stature of my acquaintance answers “yes” and “yes” both times.
Because of the delicacy of his professional position, he could not afford to attach his name to the following minority opinions. While attending some of the community meetings, including last Saturday’s messy one at West L.A. College, he has been watching, intently, from the sidelines.
He does not believe the public comment period should be extended because, he says, every conceivable opinion already has been aired.
“Don’t you think,” he asked at the breakfast hour this morning, “the body of rhetoric, valid though it may be, has grown overheated by this stage? The County is going to do what it’s going to do, and by that I mean the right thing. After so many stories, every single day it seems, we all know by now what nearly every resident, especially in Culver Crest, thinks about expanded oil drilling. I realize they are not a monolithic group, that there is a variety of opinions.’
Peeking in on Opinions
“A few believe, loudly, there should be no drilling. And there are the PXP leaseholders who say ‘We can trust the oil company to do what is right.’ The middle ground is where most of the Culver Crest people seem to be. Intellectually, they know the drilling is not going to stop. So their attitude is to strive for maximum protection. I admire what they are doing, investing their time, their energy and their minds to make sure their positions are advocated effectively.
“The process the County has set up is a good one. At the end of the day, after all of the angst, hyperbole and rhetoric, a set of standards will be adopted that is a blend of both sides’ thinking. And I believe it will be judged favorably by most residents.
“Now, though, it is time to move on.
“I don’t mean to diminish the seriousness of their protests. We are talking degrees, not black or white. The rhetoric, over and over, seems overblown to me. Whether a point is made orally or on paper, I want to say to people ‘You have made your point. Step back. I understand.’ I am pretty sure the County understands, too.
“Sometimes, I swear I want to stand up in the middle of a room and tell everybody, ‘I know, I know what you think. I heard it from the last person, and I will hear it from the next person.’
What About the Last 80 Years?
“It is not as if drilling in the oil field by PXP is anything new. This has been going on since the 1920s, and the people in Culver Crest have been living with drilling since the ‘50s.
“I am not minimizing the threats they feel now. There are risks, of course, but I am confident they will be managed. The oil field inspections, the monitoring and the penalties probably all will be stronger as a result of everyone’s efforts.
“But, as I said a moment ago, enough. The points have been made.
“This may not be the time to bring up the subject, but, to me, this sure smacks of the Bob Champion project (starring the vehemently protesting neighbors and business owners on South Sepulveda Boulevard) last year. After it was ended, all of those people were patting themselves on the back, saying ‘Thank goodness we stopped this project,’ which never was going to happen anyway. There sure are similarities between Champion and the oil drilling case.”
