Three bills focused on oil drilling landed on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk, and left as signed laws; all three have the power to benefit Culver City by holding Sentinel Peak Resources, the current leaseholder on the Inglewood Oil Field, accountable.
Assemblymember Isaac Bryan offered “The Inglewood Oil Field is the largest urban oil field in our State. Its production in recent years has been marginal, but for decades the negative health impacts surrounding it have cost the nearby community with their life expectancy. Today, with Governor Newsom’s signature, we will finally shut it down and establish the state’s first repair fund for the frontline communities who have been organizing for years to be seen, heard, and protected.”
AB3233 empowers local governments like Culver City to regulate or prohibit oil and gas operations, clarifying recent court decisions that limited city authority. Culver City was early into this challenge, with the designation of oil wells near residential districts as ‘non-conforming’ land use. While oil producers attempted to appeal such restrictions out of their way, this law keeps the power in the hands of municipalities.
AB1866 increases fees on idle wells, ensuring better management and elimination of ‘ghost wells’, which continue to pose environmental risks long after they’ve stopped producing oil.
The non-producing and low producing wells in Baldwin Hills and Culver City will need to be inspected and inventoried.
AB2716 specifically targets low-production wells near the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, and the famous Park-to-Playa trail, establishing penalties for noncompliance and funding community benefit projects to repair the environmental damage caused by oil extraction.
So, the poor performance of wells within a specific local range will be funding the restoration of areas that can then be used for public benefit.
Judith Martin-Straw
