For the past 15 months I have had the privilege to serve with my colleague Councilwoman Meghan Sahli-Wells on the Oil Drilling Subcommittee.

My interest in protecting the health of our residents and the oil field workers has been a part of my agenda since I was elected in 2012.

In April, the Council authorized our subcommittee to meet with the (Inglewood Oil Field) operator, Sentinel Peak Resources, to determine if we could find common ground in moving forward to identify the future operations of the Culver City portion of the Inglewood Oil Field.

Our current regulations were woefully in need of updating.  Staff drafted new regulations in 2013 which were distributed for public comment. They received considerable response.

Due to pending state legislation which could impact oil operations, staff wisely decided to hold off on release of a final draft until there was more certainty.

Four years have elapsed and staff, with the assistance of our consultant, Melanie Doran Traxler, has almost completed the update to the draft regulations and draft EIR, taking into account the comments received during the public comment period as well as the development of new technologies.

In putting together a draft EIR, there needed to be a proposed specific plan to review, apply the regulations against and evaluate in terms of its environmental impact.

Because the previous oil field operator, Freeport McMoran, was not forthcoming with their plans for the operation of the oil field, it was left to staff to develop a proposed project making certain assumptions about how the oil field would operate over the next 15 years, based on typical oil field operations and how the majority of the oil field is operated in the County.

I want to emphasize that the proposed specific plan is based on these assumptions rather than a specifically proposed project by the oil operator.

Sentinel Peak Resources approached the city shortly after they assumed control of the oil field.

They indicated to us that they were conducting an in-depth geotechnical study of the oil field  to determine the amount of oil present and its location.

They suggested a possible interest in becoming the applicant for a specific plan project once the study was done, which at the time was 15-18 months away.

At the same time a segment of the community was clamoring for the draft regulations, draft EIR and proposed specific plan to be released as they had already waited for four years.

The discussions between the subcommittee, staff and Sentinel Peak Resources were intended to see if there was a way to move forward with SPR becoming the project applicant or co-applicant with the city in return for which SPR would provide certain “good faith” actions and/or community benefits.

Those good faith actions included

• Greater transparency regarding information about the oil field — such as surface and down hole locations,
• An agreement to reimburse the city for expenses it is incurring during this extended period and giving consideration to reimbursement of some past expenses for technical work done by the city which would be of benefit during a future application process,
• A moratorium on any future drilling while discussions were ongoing, and
• The possibility of identifying the end game of the oil field at the conclusion of the 15-year plan.

At the beginning there was a sharp difference on what each side wanted.

SPR’s position was that the city should forgo the release of any new regulations, plan or EIR and wait for SPR to finish the study and they would submit an application based on those results.

The subcommittee, reflecting community interest, wanted to move forward or at least see good faith on the items I mentioned previously.

Facing a Deadline

The Council gave us 90 days to hold discussions with SPR and to report back with recommendations as to how to proceed.  That is the purpose of tonight’s meeting.

At our last meeting with SPR, I proposed a middle ground between doing nothing and releasing the draft regulations, specific plan and draft EIR.  That was: The city would release the 2017 draft regulations, which had been updated since 2013, along with a technical memorandum based on information obtained through the EIR process, but not to release the specific plan or draft EIR.  The benefit would be that everyone – community, landowners, SPR – would be aware of and could comment on the rules of the game, which would be in effect if and when a specific plan proposal was submitted.

I had the concurrence of my colleague Councilwoman Sahli-Wells on this middle ground approach.  But it was conditioned again on SPR acting on the good faith efforts mentioned above – transparency, reimbursement of expenses and a moratorium on any new drilling – and accepting this middle ground approach.

It was unfortunate and disturbing for both of us when SPR responded that they had problems with the good faith conditions.

As we now know, they have decided to withdraw from discussions with the subcommittee and the process.

That leaves only one alternative — to move forward with completion of the Draft Specific Plan (including the revised draft regulations) and the draft EIR. That is what my colleagues will be asked to do shortly.

A Need to Know

Now there are some things you all need to know.

Staff and our consultant are still working on completing the specific plan, including the updated regulations, and the EIR.  That will probably take up to 60 days.

They will be released and then there will be a public comment period.  It could be as short as 60 days.

But because of the length and the technical aspects of the document, the Council may wish to allow an additional 30 days.

Even though staff will be attempting to respond to public comment as those comments come in, it will probably be another 30 to 60 days before a document can be brought to Council for final approval.

So we are looking at five to seven additional months at best.

I just want you to be prepared.  This isn’t happening tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, the operations of the Inglewood Oil Field will be the same tomorrow as they were today.  The oil company has self imposed a moratorium on new drilling for the rest of 2017.

Mr. Clarke may be contacted at jimbclarke@gmail.com