[Editor’s Note: After meeting with officials of the Air Quality Management District, Mark Salkin, a longtime officer of the Culver Crest Neighborhood Assn., filed the following report over the weekend regarding residents’ years’ long dispute with oil drilling in a neaby field by PXP, the Plains, Exploration & Production Co.]
Dear Culver Crest and Adjacent Neighbors:
I met today with Ed Pupka, Senior Enforcement Manager of the AQMD. He admitted that controlling and monitoring a process such as that engendered by PXP is complex and daunting. Pupka had two of his inspectors present and one of his sampling machines. I call them locker boxes.
Attending the meeting were Gary Gless of the Citizens Coalition; Paul Ferazzi, a Culver City citizen trying to organize people in the Downtown district where the new, yet-to-be-commenced drilling will occur under Culver City, Betheny Ulrich of the Community Health Council and Dr. Tom Williams, a local environmentalist.
Pupka has reviewed and commented on the CSD (Community Standards District judgment), including the air plan and dust plan of PXP.
Pupka is reaching out to obtain community input and cooperation in order to accurately assess the issues, test the air for odors and dust and obtain input in order to better educate the community on what we can do.
His primary focus right now is a sampling program. This is the result of many complaints. If the data is uncovered, Pupka can issue citations for both public nuisance violations as well as violations of statutes and conditional permits issued for the drilling process.
Anatomy of Complaints
Pupka showed us a map identifying specifically where the complaints have been made. For example there were two separate green dots on Northgate, presumably, complaints from me and Suzanne de Benedittis. The colored dots were layered, meaning they represented more than one complaint and were over a period of years. For example, in Ladera Heights, the only complaints made were along the streets closest to La Cienega and only for the period in 2008.
Most of the complaints have been lodged on our side of the hill, more than to the east . The complaining areas include Northgate Street, around the condos at Maytime or Lakeside, Raintree, Ladera Heights, from the area around Mike Bauer's house on the Crest, and last along the ridge occupied by Gary Gless on Archcrest, east of La Brea.
In order to obtain a benchmark, Pupka wants to identify the specific homes which have been making the complaints, names (if possible), addresses (mandatory need – see below) so that he can delineate best where to place the three or four monitors that will sample the air to give the data for a benchmark.
Once he has identified where to place these “locker boxes,” he will obtain consent to install them and instruct the owners on how to obtain a sample and report. Please let me stress that they have made this an easy process, and that they are working on a self- actuating and self-reporting system that should be available next year.
The process is simple. The foot locker-sized white boxes, about 32 inches high, 18 inches deep and wide, rest on a wheeled dolly and live outside, powered by batteries.
How to Respond
If someone smells an odor, they go to the box and turn a key which turns on a pump. The pump collects air and stores it until collected. The householder then calls the AQMD (must make the call promptly; no more than 24 hours after the pump is activated) at 1.800.CUT.SMOG, and the AQMD then comes out, collects the sample, resets the machine for its next use and collates the data.
Simple, except that they only have three machines for the entire area. Whoever gets them must call the AQMD to collect the sample in a timely manner, and they have to turn the key. Know any candidates? We are looking for names and addresses.
The idea is to trace a chemical footprint around the area.
As for the calls we make to the AQMD, it works this way. When someone calls, the AQMD sends out an inspector. Per Pupka, oftentimes people call but they don't want to be available for the followup. While these are logged, it does not allow the AQMD to use it as a basis for a complaint. That's because the inspector comes out, speaks to the complainant, works upwind to trace the source of the odor or dust and then goes to the site to see what can be done. Then he is supposed to report back to the complainant to see what was done. This is known as “verification.” Without it, they can't file citations.
Since people call but don't identify themselves, there is little verification. So the process is stalled. Six complaints must be verified to cause the issuance of a citation.
When one of us calls, we must have a phone tree to call five more people, all of whom must give their name and address, in order to have sufficient “verified” incidents on which to base a citation. Most people don't take part in the verification, and so the process is weak at best.
The AQMD has 150 field inspectors. Most don't know our area. They have trouble in finding the locations of the complainants and in working upwind to the sources.
Still, the AQMD has our area listed as a hot site. They are doing what they can.
Pupka needs our help in identifying sites that (a) experience odors, (b) are willing to have a locker box placed on their property that they will agree to monitor and operate, and (c) will stand up and be counted.
I recall that Mary Crest Manor might be a good candidate for our side of the hill due to the odors I experienced there last summer.
We left it that once I have the names and locations, say, within the next week, we will arrange a second meeting to see where the locker boxes should be installed. Time is short. I need everyone's help to obtain names, addresses and contact data.
Mr. Salkin may be contacted at marksalkin@gamil.com
