[Editor’s Note: Some of the numerous propositions on the Nov. 8 ballot will be examined this evening at the 7 o’clock monthly meeting of the Culver City Democratic Club. Members will convene in the Rotunda Room at the Vets Auditorium.]
When I attended the City Council meeting on Monday, July 11, it was to mainly voice my opinion as a member of the
Culver City Community Coalition.
I was there to insist that we continue to have our City Council members retain the responsibility of hiring and firing our police and fire chiefs.
I was there to insist that we continue to have two terms for our Council members instead of the three terms that some were proposing. This would assure fresh voices and a diversity of opinions to be represented on the Council.
Almost at the end of the session, I was surprised to find that there would also be a Clean Water Parcel Tax.
It turns out that Culver City is required to comply with measures required by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program.
To fund this campaign, the City Council is proposing a $99/parcel of residential land taxation to be voted on Nov. 8. According to a previous survey of residents, the Council surmised that 75 percent of the residents were supportive of this measure.
Since I never received any survey, it makes me wonder what the sample size of the survey was and whether it was statistically significant.
Even taxing all the residents, the Council was aware that it would cover 10 percent of the entire $50 million liability/fines/expenses it would incur.
So where would or should the other 90 percent come from?
At the July 25 City Council meeting, Dr. David Haake, Chair of the West L.A. Sierra Club, along with members of the Sierra Club and Paul Ferrazzi, the executive director of Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community, recommended that Freeport-McMoRan Oil and Gas Co. shoulder the other 90 percent of the tax burden.
They have been responsible for the runoff into the Ballona Creek since 1920.
According to the minutes of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board meeting that was conducted at City Hall on Feb. 7, 2013, Cassandra Owens, Unit Chief Watershed Regulatory Officer, indicated that:
a) there have been two violations by Freeport McMoRan since 1994 regarding effluent (oil production waste) release, and
b) that the oil company must submit a final compliance schedule by Feb. 7, 2017, regarding effluent quantification and speciation.
To me, the interesting thing at the end of the session was that Charles Herbertson, Public Works director, reminded the Council that it was not the purview of the Council to tax Freeport-McMoRan.
He felt that it was the responsibility of the L.A. Water Board to tax the company.
To our knowledge, the Regional Water Quality Control Board has only given the company extensions on its deadlines to meet the specifications of the permit.
Freeport-McMoRan FMX never has been fined to the best of our knowledge by the Regional Board.
It would only be fair if Freeport-McMoRan could shoulder a part of the Clean Water Tax. It has been polluting the Ballona Creek for 96 years.
Dr. Ghi, president of the Culver City Democratic Club, may be contacted at President@CulverCityDemocraticClub.com