A much anticipated release of a report from oil and gas company Plains, Exploration and Production (PXP) involving a highly controversial oil extraction technique will soon be examined by interested Culver City residents.
The report, slated to be released to the public on Wednesday, Oct. 10, will contain information pertaining to hydraulic fracturing- known commonly as fracking- in the Inglewood Oilfields in Baldwin Hills, where the Houston-based firm conducts oil and gas operations.
Councilman Jim Clarke said he will be looking for data relating to how fracking could impact ground water supplies. But he also wondered how the report will be written.
“I have no idea how detailed and technical it might be,” he said, adding that City Hall requested an advance copy of the study, but PXP thought it would be best to release it for everyone at the same time.
Anti-fracking groups in and outside Culver City have decried the oil extraction technique as environmentally unsafe and have asked the state to ban hydraulic fracturing.
Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute Center for Biological Diversity, noted that the settlement agreement with Culver City allows unspecified “proprietary” information to be withheld from the public. “So we will be looking closely to see what information, if any, has been withheld,” she said.
Siegel was referring to an agreement reached by PXP, Culver City and community organizations during litigation two years ago.
PXP Vice President Steven Rusch told the News that the report will be detailed and will cover groundwater contamination, one of the areas that anti-fracking opponents have seized upon to cited the dangers of the underground procedure.
“The study was designed to be comprehensive and groundwater is one of several issue areas the study examined,” Rusch said.
Regarding claims by anti-fracking groups that want the procedure outlawed based on scientific data, Rusch said the report will provided actual field tested information for the public as well as for Culver City leaders.
“The study will contain empirical data from two separate high volume hydraulic fracturing completions operations that were conducted at the field,” he said. “Since much of the debate up to this point has been theoretical and hypothetical in nature, and because this report will provide the community with tangible data, it should be helping in answering their questions.”
Steven Gourley, a former Culver City councilman who lives in Culver Crest, a hillside neighborhood that has been active in the anti-fracking campaign, remains skeptical of any report issued by PXP or any oil company.
“I’d be looking for some evidence that the report was impartially prepared,” he said.
Siegel said the scope of the study is not large, so the public should take that into consideration.
“I think it’s also important to keep in mind that this is a very small study looking at just one area, with very close oil company involvement,” she added. “We already have evidence from other studies and reports showing that fracking is harmful. Thus we should bear in mind what the study cannot show given its scope – it cannot demonstrate that fracking is safe.
“We know fracking will impact air, water, communities and the climate, and we hope that this study will clearly disclose these risks at the Inglewood field.”
Clarke said he is expecting a comprehensive study. “It will be interesting to read because sometimes these things create more questions than answers,” he said.
Gourley suggested that the city request that PXP pay for an outside consultant to analyze the results of the study before taking any action.
Siegel likes the former councilman’s idea. “I think that’s a good one,” she said. “Peer review is essential.”
Regarding claims by some Culver City residents and others that some of the infrastructure problems in Culver City, such as seismic shifts in the hills and broken water mains could be attributed to fracking, Rusch cited a National Academy of Sciences released a report earlier this year that challenges that assertion.
“(The academy’s report) conclusively determined there was a very low likelihood that hydraulic fracturing could induce seismic activity that was noticeable to people or capable of creating surface damage,” Rusch asserted. “Rather than strictly relying on the NAS study to answer these questions, the study will include a thorough site-specific examination of seismic activity occurring at the field before, during, and after a high volume hydraulic fracturing job was conducted.”
The PXP executive also dispelled a rumor that his company will seek oil exploration in Culver City next year. “PXP has no current plans to drill within Culver City limits,” he said.
The company, however, does plan to conduct oil exploration operations on the Los Angeles side of the hill next year.
“PXP conducted drilling operations at the field during 2012 and has plans to drill during 2013,” he stated. “A draft copy of the 2013 drilling plan has been submitted to the county for review and approval and is also currently under review by the community advisory panel.”
Gourley thinks the council as well as the public should beware of what is include in the oilfield report despite what the oil company says, especially since they plan to drill new wells next year in Los Angeles.
“If Los Angeles catches a cold will Culver City sneeze?” asked Gouley in reference to a belief that drilling in Los Angeles will impact Culver City.
“I’ve always said that you can’t trust insurance and oil companies.”