With two important public meetings on fracking coming up next week – Tuesday night at 7 in Culver City, Wednesday night at 7 at Cal State Long Beach – more Californians are learning that hydraulic fracturing, a controversial,unregulated oil and gas recovery process, is taking place near where they live, work, and play.
No regulations exist in California that specifically address fracking, a process to recover hard-to-reach deposits of oil and gas by fracturing rock formations through a highly pressurized combination of water, sand, and often toxic chemicals.
At City Hall in Culver City on Tuesday, the state Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), as part of its statewide listening tour to hear concerns and gather recommendations for new regulations, will hold a workshop in Council Chambers.
Across the nation, fracking has raised concerns about its links to contaminated groundwater, greenhouse gas emissions, earthquakes, and adverse health impacts. Locally, residents surrounding the Baldwin Hills Oil Field, one of the largest urban oil fields in the nation, learned that the oil company in charge of the field (Plains Exoploration & Production Co.,PXP, has been using various forms of fracking over the years.
PXP is finalizing a study to determine the feasibility of doing more fracking in the field as part of a recent lawsuit settlement.
The study lays the foundation for potential “horizontal hydraulic fracturing” that would allow PXP to conduct the process outside the perimeter of the oil field under the homes of 150,000 people that live within a mile and a half of the field.
The Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance, a collaborative effort of Community Health Councils, the City Project, Natural Resources Defense Council, neighborhood associations and block clubs representing more than 50,000 households surrounding the Baldwin Hills Oil Field, has been leading an organizing effort over the past six years to develop and build support for community-led policy solutions to environmental and health concerns.
Space and time are limited at the workshops, so community residents are encouraged to arrive early. For more information about the workshops, fracking in the Baldwin Hills Oil Field, or the work of the Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance, please contact Mark Glassock, mark@chc-inc.org or 323.295.9372 ext. 225.
Wednesday’s Cal State Long Beach workshop will be in the Student Union Building, 1212 N. Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach.
Ms. Taylor of Community Health Councils may be contacted janice@chc-inc.org
