Overlooked Innocently?
Furious over being snubbed — deliberately or not is unknown — the association fired a strongly worded response to Sacramento today. They are seeking to have the comment period re-opened and extended. No one knows when, or if, there will be a reply from the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources of the Dept. of Conservation. “It is inexcusable we were left off the list,” said Mr. Kuechle, whose family — among scores of Culver Crest neighbors — was routed from a sound sleep last Jan. 10, at 2 in the morning. The Kuechles remained out of their home for three or four hours, until they felt it was safe to return. Many uprooted residents were dazed at first. Shortly their fast souring feelings warmed into anger. Horrid memories of the real-life nightmare linger one year later among the hilltop residents in the 525-home enclave. Thefrontpageonline.com reported that “Unbeknownst to the Crest community Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, natural gas odors emanating from an oil-well drilling misfire in the nearby Baldwin Hills area triggered the scary drama.” Rich Kissel, the Crest’s Chief of Block Captains, said shortly after the first of three separate such incidents that the odor floating up from the oil-drilling area not far from nearby West Los Angeles College was neither flukish nor random. He characterized it as “an ongoing problem rooted in the oil drilling.”
