An update on hydraulic fracturing and well stimulation of oil wells in the Inglewood Oilfield has reignited a debate among the City Council and Culver City residents who want their city leaders to be more aggressive in seeking the prevention of the controversial drilling technique to in Culver City.
Opponents of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, want the city to pursue a complete ban on the oil extraction procedure. Hydraulic fracturing is an energy-producing technique used to obtain oil and natural gas in areas where those energy supplies are trapped in rock and sand formation.
One member of the city’s governing body appears to be modifying his position on a putting a halt to any hydraulic fracturing in Culver City, even while none is taking place.
Mayor Jeffery Cooper, who is in his final days as mayor, told the News after the April 22 council meeting that he is leaning toward a moratorium on fracking if other municipalities do not move quickly on creating the legal framework to do so.
“I’m not willing to wait much longer if Los Angeles delays on moving forward,” the mayor said.
City officials in Los Angeles voted in favor a fracking moratorium on Feb. 27 and Carson’s City Council voted on May 18 to place a moratorium on new oil drilling.
Cooper previously stated that he preferred that other cities take the lead on seeking local ordinances that would prevent oil companies for fracking oil wells or engaging in other types of well stimulation.
“My thinking is, I don’t want us to stick our necks out on our own, especially now that Los Angeles, a much bigger city, has already taken that step,” he explained in an interview in March when he was running for reelection.
City Attorney Carol Schwab’s office has produced what is called a “discussion” draft of regulations that will govern oil drilling and related oil field activities. These regulations will be proposed to be considered in a form of a specific plan, according to a city staff report. Schwab’s office is still working to revamp the city’s oil drilling ordinance, which has reportedly cost in the neighborhood of approximately $2 million and taken several years to update.
Cooper said the council will now wait until city staff returns with specific recommendations, which could include an analysis of how other agencies and municipalities are dealing with fracking and perhaps adopting similar actions.
While the Inglewood Oilfield is said to be the largest urban field in the United States, only 205 of its oil wells are in Culver City. The municipal code has been amended to consider oil drilling as a discretionary act and any new well drilling would be subject to environmental review as well as discretionary approval.
Stephen Murray, an ardent opponent of fracking, is thrilled that city officials are at least considering a possible moratorium. But he contends that a municipal ban would be more potent than the restrictions that the city is currently considering.
“I’m satisfied that [the City Council] is looking at this,” he said. “But a zoning-based ban would have a more powerful impact on the health and safety of our community.”
Murray is trying to put together a ballot initiative for a citywide referendum to ban fracking, an idea that was first floated by former Culver City Councilman Gary Silbiger nearly two years ago.
“If the possibility [of having a moratorium on fracking] was so easy, why didn’t the city council do these two years ago?” Murray asked.
A municipality banning hydraulic fracturing is by no mean a cut and dry matter. Last year, voters passed Senate Bill 4, which according to the bill, regulates various aspects of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and other well stimulation techniques, largely to provide “transparency and accountability to the public regarding well stimulation treatments, including but not limited to hydraulic fracturing, associated emissions to the environment, and the handling, processing and disposal of well stimulation and related wastes, including from hydraulic fracturing.”