Previously, ‘PXP Submits 2009 Oil Drilling Plan for 24 More Wells — Deadline Hours Away’
To Mayor Andy Weissman and City Council members:
Have L.A. County prioritize pertinent Community Standards District mitigations to assure our safety
I am here to make two requests for the safety of our city, the people, and our firefighters (as first responders) regarding PXP’s recent request for 24 oil drilling permits.
1. Please have our City Attorney, if she has not yet already done so, send the County Supervisor himself, Mark Ridley-Thomas, a strong letter with a very clear message that:
• Even with revised and correctly detailed oil drilling plans, it would violate the public trust for the County to give PXP any drilling permits until all the safety mitigations are in place and functioning properly.
• Remind the County:
(a) It was those noxious releases that got people sick a couple of years ago that led to the creation of a CSD;
(b) It would violate the purported purpose of this CSD, which is to assure the safety of densely populated communities living around this urban oil field, if they were to grant permits before the required mitigations are made.
(c) The CSD was passed without a sufficient EIR, much less what was originally promised, namely a site- specific EIR.
(d) The former Supervisor, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, violated the will of the people as expressed by the majority of citizens. So this would add insult to injury if the new Supervisor too were heedless of our safety.
Should the County give drilling permits before the safety measures are properly functioning in place, it would give PXP a legal precedent to keep putting off our safety needs, and that such action would put the County at risk of more lawsuits for violating the intent of its own ordinances.
2. May I request that Culver City create more visibility and invite community involvement. Mr. Weissman, as our Mayor and the city’s official representative on the County’s Community Advisory Panel, may I ask you to work in the spirit of the new County Supervisor, who is known for encouraging participatory government, to empower the community. I would willingly volunteer to work with you on forming our own Culver City PXP Community Advisory Panel.
For unless there is a groundswell from the people, all too often even official municipal missives get ignored. Witness the 200-page critique of the EIR/CSD that Culver City had sent to the County. And now we have a lawsuit in hopes of having truth and justice prevail.
A less costly way to achieve the common good is to mobilize the public so that the Supervisor gets a mountain of comments sent by individuals and homeowner associations. This provides the Supervisor with the political standing he needs to take action.
We must create a venue to disseminate information in a timely manner in order to make democracy, rather than private profit, prevail.
As I understand the intention of the Community Advisory Panel, CAP, it is meant to be a conduit to inform and involve the people. Thus it is urgent to allow everyone to participate in the County’s decision-making processes.
Right now PXP is requesting drilling permits for 24 more wells this year, six of which are near the Dog Park and Culver Crest.
How many of our residents know this?
How many are aware that they can send the County comments and questions regarding this?
Most of all, know that this new Supervisor listens to the will of the people.
Safety will prevail as the priority if he hears from more and more of us, and not just a few, no matter how well-crafted their letters.
Will you help me help you to mobilize our city to demand that our Supervisor make public safety the priority over private interests?
How can I help you create Culver City’s own PXP Community Advisory Panel so that, together with the city doing the legal writing and activist citizens giving it clout, we keep the County focused on oil drilling safety as the priority?
Dr. De Benedittis may be contacted at Debenedittis@sbcglobal.net
