PXP, the Plains Exploration and Production Co., the target of the Crest’s wrath, intends to drill 24 oil wells, starting any day now.

Crest officials said several legal/policy corners already have been skirted by PXP. They don’t believe that trend will change, which is why they are threatening a lawsuit, to force the parties to comply with strict environmental regulations.

In the board’s words, “full and viable” environmental compliance by PXP is the objective of the legal posturing.

Hope Is Shrinking

They made it plain they are not optimistic about a decision coming out of Sacramento.

“Business as usual,” snapped Mr. Salkin in describing the relationship between PXP and the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources.

Even more bluntly, Mr. Salkin said, “I distrust PXP.”

Crest an Impediment?

The very active homeowners are convinced they represent a pesky and permanent thorn to PXP.

“We are small, and we stand in the way of millions in oil revenues,” Mr. Salkin said.

“It is kind of disconcerting that people with power do not consult us. So we have to take action in the dark.”

Time, as noted, is seen as the looming monster for Culver Crest residents.

The expansion — within three-quarters of a mile of the 525 hilltop homes on the Crest — was scheduled to have begun by now.

A Delay Would be a Problem

Likewise, DOGR, the awkward acronym by which the state agency is known, has not indicated when it will issue a ruling on whether PXP may be directly green-lighted or forced to postpone drilling.

Delay would translate into a hardship for the oil company, Steve Rusch, PXP executive and the Los Angeles face of the Texas company, told thefrontpageonline.com.

“I have no comment,” Mr. Rusch said this morning, “because it’s just speculation. As PXP, the County Supervisors and ohers have said, we want to get on with operating under the Interim Ordinance we all agreed to last summer.”

Earlier in the winter, Mr. Rusch said he hoped the drilling could begin by late February. As for the new date, “As soon as DOGR issues the permits,” he said.

The homeowners board is worried that the state agency may not order the oil company to endure a rigid — very closely monitored — environmental impact report.

Open-Ended

“We have not set any deadlines for fiiing a case,” Mr. Salkin said. “But we have to consider the potential of a negative outcome.”

To say it differently, the association is not making a flat prediction, just preparing.

“The way we see it,” Mr. Salkin said, “it’ll be business as usual,”

Even the Memories Smell

Haunted by the acrid memories of last year’s gas leaks and fearing the return of a similar incident, the board got down on its haunches this week.

Mr. Salkin said the homeowners’ board is exasperated. He said the state certifying agency has avoided meaningful responses to Culver Crest inquiries.

One-Way Street

“When we call Sacramento, they won’t give us any facts or data,” he said.

The Plains Exploration and Production Co. and Crest residents have been feuding almost constantly for more than a year.

At the time of the first gas leak 14 months ago, PXP again went into an apology mode. The scenario was especially dramatic because many Culver Crest residents were routed from their slumber.

Peace Did Not Last Long

Barely months later, the two parties, following a brief patch of peace, were at it again. PXP’s failure late last year to notify its loudest-complaining neighbor of its intention to drill the 24 oil wells within smelling distance of the hilltop rekindled the feuding.

Leaders of the neighborhood association were furious when they learned, accidentally, just before the Jan. 5 expiration of the 30-day public comment period, of PXP’s ambitious drilling plans.

An Oversight

Once again, Mr. Rusch “apologized profusely” for not informing the very active homeowners group

He explained that it was “an oversight,” which Crest leaders did not buy. He also said it was not PXP’s responsibility to determine what groups or persons should be notified. Other sources contradicted his contention.