Hermosa Beach Oil Drilling EIR Draft Discussion

Oil Drilling & Recovery Cost Benefit Analysis 

Recovery Implies That You Once Owned or Possessed Something

Costs Far Outweigh Monetary Benefits To  Few People

Air, Water, Noise Health Impacts on the Community of Hermosa Beach

Property Proximity Potential Cancer or Health Impact

Impact Areas Where Injuries Could Occur From An Explosion For Example

Since the City has not provided a proper forum for public comment.  Please use this discussion area below for commenting on the EIR.  

E&B Natural Resources Contractors Will Be Fined For Illegal Drilling in Hermosa Beach

The City of Hermosa Beach is among three entities cited by the Los Angeles County Public Health Department--Environmental Health Drinking Water Program for drilling on the public works yard site last Tuesday without the required permits.

Brycon, LLC, a consultant out of Newport Beach, and J & H Drilling Co. Inc. out of Santa Ana were also cited for their participation in the work, which was being done on behalf of E&B Natural Resources to test soil and groundwater for contamination.

In the "Notice of Violation & Order," the city, Brycon and J & H were directed to submit a Well Permit Application by today. J & H must also submit proof of a valid California C-57 Well Water Contractor's License.

All three will also be fined, according to Richard Lavin, chief environmental health specialist with the Drinking Water Program. The fine, due by June 10th, has yet to determined, he said late Tuesday.

Permits are required for any well drilling in the state, he said. His department oversees drilling in L.A. County, with the exceptions of Long Beach and Pasadena.

Former Hermosa Beach City Manager Steve Burrell and now $168,000 consultant to EIR process did not comment.  Current Mayor of Hermosa Beach Kit Bobko creator of the illegal oil settlement had no comment.  Michael Divirgilio also did not return Hermosa Beach Patch's calls for a comment.  Current City Manager Tom Bakaly had no comment but issued the following statement below.

HERMOSA BEACH, CA - Hermosa Beach City Manager Tom Bakaly issued the following statement in response to a request from Los Angeles County for a permit for work at the city’s maintenance yard that is part of the environmental study of the oil production project proposed by E&B Natural Resources Management Corp. (E&B). 

“The work at the city’s maintenance yard involved shallow borings into the soil to obtain groundwater samples as part of the information-gathering process for the environmental review of the oil production project proposed by E&B. This is a relatively routine sampling operation for a project of this type, and it required just one day of work and little disruption of the site. While the city staff investigated the need for a state permit for the water sampling process, it was unaware that a Los Angeles County permit was needed for such work. 

“We apologize for any confusion this environmental data-gathering process might have caused. The city remains committed to providing residents and voters with thorough information about the proposed oil production project and will strive to communicate more fully in the future. As part of the ongoing communication, the City Council will receive an update at its meeting on May 28 about Hermosa Beach’s General Plan, its Community Dialogue and the environmental review process for the proposed oil production project. We invite all the city’s residents to become involved in these processes to help determine the future of Hermosa Beach.”

As is often the case after a Project Application is deemed complete, the city had asked E&B for additional information for the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) submitted as part of E&B’s Project Application. A contractor for E&B conducted shallow borings in the soil at the maintenance yard to obtain groundwater samples to address soil contamination known to exist on the site because of its historic use as a landfill. This sampling process did not constitute “testing” or sampling for oil at the site: It only sought information about groundwater and is much different from oil drilling. 

The information from this sampling will help the city gain more information about the groundwater conditions underlying the site and to better evaluate the effectiveness and appropriateness of the proposed RAP. Groundwater information also is essential for an accurate description of baseline environmental conditions in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) the city will be preparing to examine all environmental impacts of the proposed project.

The city had a license agreement with E&B that gave the company and its contractors access to the maintenance yard to obtain the samples. The work was completed on May 7. Before the work began, the city had asked and determined that no state permit was required. After the work was completed, the city became aware that the Los Angeles County Public Health Department’s Bureau of Environmental Protection required a permit and that the permit should have been obtained by the geotechnical contracting company hired by E&B. 

The city notified E&B of its responsibility to obtain the permit. E&B’s contractor has now filed for the appropriate permit with Los Angeles County.

Related Articles:
Hermosa Beach Residents Catch E&B Drilling Without a County Permit
Hermosa Beach Patch "City Cited For Lack of Drilling Permit

Why is E&B Drilling in Hermosa Beach Without Permit?

I guess the joke is on us and the City can get away doing whatever they want and make up their own rules.  When will the lies, corruption and deception of the truth stop in Hermosa Beach?  This drilling started at 8am on May 7 at the Hermosa Beach City Yard.

Neighbors were not notified and the City did not have a permit to do this according to sources who asked City Manage Tom Bakaly. Is this grounds to fire a City Manager for ignoring this huge issue?  See this incident at the last City Council meeting where Tom Bakaly refuses to publish a letter.  Is Mr. Bakaly  really working for the people or is he also now working for E&B?  Why is Mr. Bakaly hiring an outside consultant to moderate / facilitate a town hall meeting?  Many questions need answers and this is not leadership.

 

City of Hermosa Beach Drilling Without a Permit?

Here is the Hermosa Beach drilling ordinance right from their web site. The drilling, boring or otherwise sinking of an oil or gas well, or oil or gas wells, or the maintenance, pumping or operation of any oil well or oil wells or gas well or gas wells in the city is declared to be a nuisance and is declared to be unlawful. It is unlawful for any person to drill, bore or otherwise sink or maintain, pump or operate or cause to be drilled, bored or otherwise sunk, or maintained, pumped or operated, or to aid in the drilling, boring or otherwise sinking, or maintaining, pumping or operating of any gas or oil well or wells for the purpose of procuring oil, gas or other hydrocarbon substances within any portion of the city. It is unlawful for any person to commence the construction or to construct or maintain any derrick, or any oil well apparatus in the city for the purpose of drilling for or maintaining any oil or gas well in the city; except, however, the oil wells now constructed or under construction or in actual operation in the city. (Ord. 95-1139 § 2, 1995; prior code § 21-10)

Protecting Communities from the Health and Environmental Effects of Oil and Gas Production

Hands Across The Sand Hermosa Beach - Saturday, May 18, 2013

Hands Across The Sand Hermosa Beach

Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 11 am

Here is video from 2010 celebrating an "oil free" town.  

Please take notice that Hermosa City Councilman Jeff Duclos is in this video.  

Jeff Duclos is also an alternate on the Coastal Commission.  

10 Reasons to Vote Yes for Measure A

10 Reasons to Oppose AES Redondo Beach Power Plant Rebuild 

1. Emissions from the new power plant would increase 700%. 
2. 6,850 students go to school within 1.5 miles of it. 
3. AES management has a horrendous track record and has been involved in several law suits and financial crisis issues including Enron.  Read this "AES Corporation: Rewriting the Rules of Management". 
4. AES's largest customer is J.P. Morgan according to the AES company fact sheet on the web site.  A bank as your largest customer?  Sounds a bit like Enron to me.  This Redondo Beach power from this plant is not needed per the CAISO and CEC reports.
5. Power plant lines bring down property values at least 25% in the Redondo Beach & South Hermosa Beach areas and block ocean views.  The power lines may go as well. This has not been studied. 
6. AES hurts the fiscal health of the Redondo King Harbor area surrounding businesses.  New waterfront developments have been put on hold because of the power plant rebuild issue.  Many new restaurants would likely follow the new Shade Hotel being built on King Harbor more money would flow to the City if the power plant was gone.  
7. Opposing it costs nothing & AES only needs the Council and others to do nothing and we all lose.  Doing nothing plays right into their hands. This is not about the future zoning of the site.  We definitely don't want a new power plant.  See map below of what this area could be. 
8. AES pays little in taxes only $385,000 / year in tax revenue to the city. 
9. AES plant borders on South Hermosa Beach and most HB residents will be affected. 
10. The loud steam blasts in the middle of the night are simply ridiculous and this beautiful park rendering (see picture below)  done by the California Coast Commission would be incredible the area. 

In a 3-2 vote, the Redondo Beach City Council decided to continue its discussion on a resolution opposing the repowering of AES Redondo Beach at the July 10 meeting. After a meeting that lasted more than seven hours until 1 am, the Redondo Beach City Council decided to delay its discussion on whether to pass a resolution opposing the repowering of the AES Redondo Beach power plant on Harbor Drive until the July 10. This will allow city staff time to hire an independent consultant to perform an amortization report on the current structure. Councilmen Matt Kilroy and Pat Aust both said they wanted to read such a report before making a final decision.  Is this just a delay tactic?  Read more on Redondo Patch and Easy Reader. 

Redondo Beach City Council 

Matt Kilory, Steve Aspel, Bill Brand, Pat Aust, Steve Diels

Hermosa Beach, Torrance, Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes should participate as well in support of removing the power plant. NIMBY thinking and waiting is just plain lazy and stupid.  All surrounding City Council members need to work together because this is such a big issue.  Lets set politics aside and be proactive about finding a solution to do the right thing.  This is not just about Redondo Beach and we all stand to benefit with cleaner air and potentially new development that we all can use. The King Harbor area has so much potential. Its a developers "wet dream" and huge private money would follow the opportunity to create something amazing.  

It Redondo Beach City Council's job to find an alternative solution for the power plant land.  However, we all know political people are lazy and always need LOTS of "hand holding" so they feel safe. Why would City Council members be reluctant to oppose the new power plant remodel that produces a minuscule $200,000 in tax revenue per year which is less money than the city makes from its parking garage at the pier. 

Is AES threatening Redondo Beach City Council members with a law suit?  Any initiative by the city residents is not likely to provide AES with any basis to sue the city. Finally, there is an amortization process through which a city, or a citizen's initiative, can allow businesses adequate time to get a return on their investment in a property before a specific use is banned. The proposed citizen initiative would eliminate industrial uses by 2020, which I think is plenty of time (8 years) for AES to get adequate return on their investment in the property, especially considering the majority of the equipment is old and obsolete, and esentially worthless at this point.  

AES is no stranger to crisis and law suits.  In 1992, AES flirted with disaster when its Shady Point generating facility in Oklahoma was discovered to have been discharging polluted water and to have falsified the samples it provided to the Environmental Protection Agency. In the same year, AES was forced to abandon its rebuilding of a power plant at Cedar Bay, Florida following a dispute with state officials and the local community. These events caused AES’s share price to fall by half.  AES has multiple law suits against the company (see AES Law Suits) search results.  

AES is a $9 billion public company (NYSE: AES) planning to make a $500M+ investment on a power plant that might be worth an estimated $135M (comps based on AES Huntington Beach valuation performed in 2011). AES is looking to repower the plant in 2018. They are currently using the plant only 5% of the time right now, and with an investment of $630 million for a new plant, the amount of energy needed to pay back the investment will mean lots of particulate matter in the atmosphere in Redondo, Hermosa, and surrounding communities. While the footprint will be smaller (12 acres vs the current 50 acres, 4 stacks instead of 5), any chance for revitalizing the waterfront will be lost for 50+ years as no one will want to invest in the area. Here are some points and a link to FAQs Tear Down Redondo Beach Power Plant Blog:

California Coastal Commission's study for AES power plant area

Hermosa Beach Wyland Water Challenge "Greenest City" Award?

Hermosa Beach Mayors Whyland Foundation Water Challenge

Hermosa Beach Mayor Peter Tucker and Wyland Foundation VP Steve Creech talked to Dave Gonzales and Sandra Mitchell of CBS News about the water conservation challenge. Pete Tucker had a goal as Mayor to make Hermosa Beach residents understand the value of conserving water in the community.  On October of 2011, Pete Tucker and Jeff Ducklos attend the West Basin Water Harvest Festival.  Hermosa Beach to accept the top honor of conserving water in Southern California.  Hermosa Beach residents made this possible by conserving water for future generations.

One unnamed City Official said off the record, "This is hypocrisy at its highest level and I am disappointed how we have handled it."  "Carbon Neutral", "Green City", "Green Taskforce" sounds kind of ridiculous now that we are considering oil drilling doesn't it?

Its incredible to see hear Pete Tucker discuss how he got all these groups in Hermosa Beach to help win this award by sending out 4000 emails.  Groups like the Green Task Force, Volleyball groups, Ed Foundation, Women's Club (Ace in the Hole), Public Works, Planning Commission.

It strikes me as absurd that the City of Hermosa Beach is evening allowing an oil company to discuss the idea of drilling for oil in our community with the risks it poses on our water supply.  Pete Tucker and Jeff Ducklos need to start acting like responsible Councilmen by defending our safety.

Hermosa Beach council member's have said absolutely nothing on the oil drilling issue because they are bound taken a vow to remain silent during the process.  This is absurd when their primary responsibility is to protect the safety residents.  Not an oil company.

Pumping millions of recycled or reclaimed water into the ground for the purposed of oil drilling is not only risky for the residents but also jeopardizes our drinking water.

Most people don't realize that 40% of Los Angeles drinking water comes from an aquifer underground.  

E&B is going to use a bogus study that says fracking does pose any environmental impacts or contaminate our water which is a complete fraud.  If you want to read more about how this study has been refuted.  Balkwin Hills Fracking Study. 

Hermosa Beach School District Oil Information Sharing Meeting

George Schmeltzer's Speech to Hermosa Beach City Council
"This is the more important thing that will hit Hermosa Beach in the last 50 years."


Ray Waters, Hermosa Beach School Board
"The Costs Overwhelm Any Benefits To City or Schools"

This Is How We Raise Money For Hermosa Schools 
Thanks to the Ed Foundation Donors

Capped Oil Wells Beneath Homes & Ocean Can Blowout

Capped Oil Wells That Could Blowout in Redondo Beach & Hermosa Beach

Capped oil wells are a real danger in the South Bay.  Pat Aust the Redondo Beach City Councilman and former firefighter knows first hand of the dangers.  Hermosa Beach has a handful of capped wells and some are out in the Ocean as you can see.  However, Redondo Beach has hundreds of them underneath homes and Manhattan Beach has plugged oil wells at Mira Costa High School.  Here is an explanation to help you understand the potential threat to our community if slant hydraulic pressurized oil drilling is permitted underground.

Oil drilling blowout preventers (BOPs) can be used on the drilling site itself on the surface to mitigate risk.  However, blowout preventers CANNOT be used on capped wells or adjacent wells underground & in the Ocean.   If an adjacent capped oil well were to blow on the ocean seabed it would cause a massive oil spill and mess on up and down the coast.  The ocena seabed well could be capped but would required significant emergency effort (like the BP Spill in the Gulf) and would change the integrity of life in the South Bay as we know it.  If an adjacent capped oil were to blow underground beneath homes.  Lives and homes could be lost because an explosion is highly likely.  Residents in Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach who own homes over a capped underground well would never know about the problem until it is too late.  Do we really want to trust the that the integrity of the well was capped properly 30 or 40 years ago?

Crude oil is a flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Because hydrocarbons and gas are lighter than rock or water, they often migrate upward through adjacent rock layers until either reaching the surface or becoming trapped within porous rocks (known as reservoirs) by impermeable rocks above. However, the process is influenced by underground water flows, causing oil to migrate hundreds of kilometres horizontally or even short distances downward before becoming trapped in a reservoir. When hydrocarbons are concentrated in a trap, an oil field forms, from which the liquid can be extracted by drilling and pumping at high pressure. The down hole pressures experienced at the rock structures change depending upon the depth and the characteristic of the source rock.  The deeper the well the more risky the operation.  E&B is proposing deep wells.

Blowouts happen all the time and are daily occurrence in the oil industry.  Don't convince yourself it can't happen here because Steve Layton knows too well from his Blowout in Louisiana which bankrupted Equinox Oil.

Here is another conclusion that supports this argument from the Coastal Commission.

Fracking in California Can Induce More Earthquakes

Josh Fox of Gas Land Movie reveals unregulated fracking going on in Los Angeles, California and could cause a major earthquakes in the near future.  The USGS is studying the relationship to fracking but regulation still seems a long ways off.  Oil and gas companies are not required to disclose fracking even though hundreds of wells in Southern Califoria have and are currently being fracked.

In Oklahoma , Arkansas, and in Ohio, earthquakes shake the ground and rattle nerves. But these quakes are not the work of mother nature. The USGS says a controversial oil production method called "fracking" is responsible for triggering them

Fracking is a drilling method where highly pressurized water, sand, and a cocktail of chemicals are injected miles into the ground to shatter the rock, which allows the oil and gas to escape. A critical part of this process is getting rid of millions of gallons of waste water. A common way to do that is to re-inject it back into the earth. And that's what can trigger an earthquake. E&B will tell you they are not doing the controversial "hydraulic fracking" but won't be specific on how their technique differs from the above.  Do we want to take this risk?  

Cities That Have Banned Oil & Gas Fracking

Elections & City Council Bans

1)  Longmont, Colorado (Denver / Boulder Suburb) slaps drilling in face, Outspent 30-1 by oil and gas hacks, bans fracking within city limits. Not even close. 60%-40%.

2)  Mansfield, Ohio voters adopt Community Charter Amendment That Bans Toxic Injection Wells. Not even close 63%-37% 

3)  Ferguson, Pennsylvania voters approve Clean Air & Water Community Bill of Rights while banning injection wells, fracking & shale gas development.  52%-48%

4)  Not a ban but Carpinteria, California drilling initiative defeated oil drilling in 2010.  Blowout victory 70%-30%.

5)  Wellsburg, West Virginia City Council Banned Fracking

6)  Morgantown, West Virginia banned fracking and forced to zoning by judge ruling 

Read about more State initiatives underway.

I don't think people who have actually lived and own homes in Hermosa Beach, California have any intention of moving backwards to permit a century long ban of drilling in Santa Monica Bay. E&B is simply wasting our value time and City resources which could be better spent elsewhere.

E&B still has the opportunity to pack up their bags and go home to save face. 2014 is a long way away.

Please email any others I may have left off to jeff@drillingmaps.com

What Is Horizontal Shale Oil Drilling?

What E&B Natural Resources Doesn't Want You to Know

Here are the safety issues and risks of Slant Oil Drilling in Hermosa Beach that E&B Natural Resources doesn't want you to know.

1)  Chemicals and mud are pumped into the ground
2)  More black tar and oil on our beaches 

3)  Hole is drilled just under the deepest fresh water source from the surface. 

4)  Cement sealing always fail and thus why fracking contaminates water underground

5)  Drilling will go completely horizontal only under the Ocean. (1/4 mile)

6)  80 pieces of pipes at 495 pounds each to drill one well (2400 total pipes for 30)

7)  87 tons of pipe per well will be inserted into ground (2,610 tons of pipe for 30)

8)  Perforation gun inserted into ground for an explosions underground

9)  Hydraulic fracturing has huge safety issues under pressure

10)  Pump jacks may not be used so what will they be using?

Steve Layton says, "The best place to find oil is in an old oil field." = Fracking

Oil Companies Do NOT have to Disclose Fracking Sites in CA

Fracking is Still Highly Unregulated in California
See the Fracking Health Dangers of Gas Here


Baldwin Hills Oil Sink Hole in 1963 See (6 min 25 seconds)
Pressurized Oil Extraction Wells Caused This

Hydraulic Fracking Diagram

California Fracking Unregulated

E&B Oil Reveals Hydraulic Pumping Will Be Used

E&B further explains their hydraulic fracking technique using 27 oil wells and 3 water injection wells. The drilling rig will be 87 feet tall and will be temporarily on site for four months before it is removed. During that four month period three exploratory wells and one water injection well will be drilled. This will allow us to analyze the quality, along with the rate and flow, and other important factors of the produced oil, gas and water.

Pressurized Hydraulic Oil Extraction Wells Caused This
Redondo Beach Wins $2.5M Law Suit From Oil Companies in 1997

Eight oil companies named in the lawsuit were required to replace the oil they had taken with pressurized water. He said that because they did not, the surface under the water sank up to four feet in some areas. The subsidence led the breakwater to sink four feet below its designed height of 22 feet, Goddard said, and caused storm-generated waves to crash over the protective wall. He said the storm caused more than $8 million in damage to local businesses, a cost absorbed by the city. Several major oil companies were named in the suit, including Texaco, Exxon, Trident and Phillips Petroleum, Goddard said. 

No Oil Money For Hermosa Beach Schools

Barbara Guild Speaking About Oil Drilling Underground In Ocean Benefits State of California (Tidelands Trust)

- No General Use of Oil $ From Ocean

- Schools Only Have Tiny Mineral Rights Royalty

- .20 Cents Per Barrel of Oil Extracted Under School

- No $ Use East of Strand

- No Police or Fire $
- No Road or Sewers $
- No New Building $
- No School $
- No Parks Money

State Tidelands Doctrine

The United States Supreme Court issued its landmark opinion on the nature of a state’s title to its tide and submerged lands nearly 110 years ago, and although courts have reviewed tidelands trust issues many times since then, the basic premise of the trust remains fundamentally unchanged. The Court said then that a state’s title to its tide and submerged lands is different from that to the lands it holds for sale. “It is a title held in trust for the people of the State that they may enjoy the navigation of the waters, carry on commerce over them, and have liberty of fishing” free from obstruction or interference from private parties. All uses, including those specifically authorized by the Legislature, must take into account the overarching principle of the public trust doctrine that trust lands belong to the public and are to be used to promote public rather than exclusively private purposes.

Evidence of Money Use in Newport Beach

Oil and gas revenue is deposited into the Tidelands Fund because the source of the oil is in the tidelands area which the City holds in trust for the people of California. The Tidelands Fund may be used only for eligible expenditures that support and maintain the tidelands, such as improvements to tidelands property including dredging Lower Newport Bay, lifeguards, beach cleaning, etc. 

The productivity of the oil wells continues to decline due to the age of the wells. New oil extraction techniques are required if the City continues to use the wells. The new techniques may include: reconditioning of existing oil wells, converting existing oil wells to water injection wells, drilling new water injection wells or drilling new oil wells. The City Charter restricted the redrilling of wells until January of 2011.

This is how we raise money for Hermosa Beach Schools through the Ed Foundation.

What is an Environmental Impact Report (EIR)?

Hermosa Beach is about to begin the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process and its important that you know what it is, the timing, costs, players, politics & process.  An EIR is the planning document which describes the environmental impacts associated with a oil drilling project.

17 Environmental Impacts

The EIR will analyze 17 different environmental impacts and will determine which ones are significant. Aesthetics, Agricultural resources, Air Quality, Biological resources, Geology and Soils, Greenhouse Gases, Hazards, Hazardous Materials, Hydrology and Water Quality, Land use and Planning, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population, Real Estate, Public Services, Recreation, Transportation and Traffic, Utilities, Mandatory Findings.  It also describes mitigation measures to reduce the impacts to an appropriate or acceptable level.

Planning Commission & City Council

The information within an EIR allows the decision-makers (the Planning Commission and/or the City Council) to make an informed decision when considering whether or not to approve a project. The report also assists with deciding if approval conditions (entitlements) are necessary. The ultimate decision to approve a project, however, remains with the decision-makers. When the Planning Commmission or City Council approves an EIR, it is simply an acknowledgement that the EIR is true and accurate. It is only a step towards project approval, not a guarantee. The Planning Commmission or City Council may decide to instead decide to approve or deny the project based on overriding considerations. For example, the Planning Commission may find that a proposed project may provide monetary benefits to a community that don't outweigh a problems identified in the EIR, such as unsafe air quality, heavy truck traffic & real estate price decline that will negatively impact property tax revenue.

Public Review

There may also be one or more meetings about the report, either as a separate meeting or as an item in a Planning Commission agenda. Note that approval of the environmental impact report does not mean that the project is approved. Once the report is approved, decision-makers review the project, taking into account the information in the report and other considerations. The public has an opportunity to review and provide comments on a draft of an EIR by contacting, in writing, the planner listed on the EIR. Public input is then included in the EIR, and considered by the decision-makers along with other aspects of the report.

EIR Project Managers

The Hermoa Beach City Council approved a contract with Ed Almanza & Associates, a Laguna Beach firm, to serve as the project manager.  However, there is no public information on this firm available on the internet as of today which is concerning.  The firm will oversee the city’s review of the proposed project at large. The Council also approved a consulting contract with former City Manager Stephen R. Burrell.

Opinion:  "Can Voters Rely on an EIR to Make a Voting Decision?"

It is important for the entire South Bay to understand this will be the 4th time in 80 years that Hermosa Beach has been faced with an oil drilling ballot measure. Hermosa Beach overwhelmingly banned oil drilling in public votes in 1932, 1958 and 1995. An Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will address many aspects of this process, but it will never fully disclose all the damage that oil drilling will bring about in a town 1.3 miles square. Our position as a great area to live will be severely tarnished. These safety and environmental damage resulting from oil drilling will effect generations to come.

An EIR is supposed to be a thorough analysis of: Air quality, Biological resources, Geology and soils, Greenhouse gases, Hazards and hazardous materials, Hydrology and water quality, Land use and planning, Mineral resources, Noise impact, Population and housing, Public services, Recreation, Transportation and traffic, Utilities & any other Mandatory findings of significance like real estate values. Upon the completion of the EIR, a thorough examination of the safety risks will be necessary as it was in the previous MacPhearson oil drilling project. A report like Bircher Report (safety study), which was done in relation to the MacPhearson project, will need to be done.

Its too complicated for the voters to rely on an EIR alone.  Its too complicated and does not address safety to the residents.  An EIR is meant to simply figure out how a project could get approved. Don't be surprised to see this EIR analyzed and separated by parts to make the environmental impacts appear smaller and insignificant to residents. It’s very important that the City Council get a report similar to the Bircher Report to fully understand the risks these kind of project present.

Hermosa Beach has been down this road before and completed an Environmental Impact Report for Macpherson Oil in the 1990's at this exact location. The City Council elected at that time showed great care and diligence in their decision making. They commissioned the Bircher Report and reviewed the EIR and concluded that it was unsafe and the air quality impact would have been too harmful on residents. Three City Council members Sam Edgerton, Julie Oakes and John Bowler unanimously agreed that to not proceed with oil drilling after reviewing all the findings. They felt that the safety risks were too great to allow the oil drilling project to proceed.

We need the EIR to be interpreted by professionals who will take into account the same safety issues our 1990 City Council had to. Our current council chooses not to heed this previous unanimous vote of their predecessors. It is unknown if they even read the prior EIR and related safety reports before agreeing to this settlement arrangement. The current city council viewed the outcome of a jury trail too risky and unlike our 1998 city council they put the citizens at risk, or in this case obviated the due diligence of a complicated project into a political vote where safety arguments and facts might get lost in the rhetoric..

Steve Layton's Oil Spill in 1998 as CEO of Equinox Oil

Oil Blowout Covered 2 Square Miles

In 1983, Mr. Steve Layton co-founded Alma Energy and Equinox Oil with his father and Mike Galesi. He served as President of Alma and Equinox from 1997 to 2000. In November 2000, Francesco Galesi purchased the Alma and Equinox assets out of bankruptcy after an Equinox oil spill and formed E&B Natural Resource Management Corporation. Mr. Layton was retained as President of E&B.

Steve Layton was CEO of Equinox Oil when on September 22, 1998, oil blowout occurred from a well owned by Equinox into the waters of Lake Grande Ecaille, in Plaquemines Parish, coastal Louisiana. A blowout is the uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from an oil well or gas well after pressure control systems have failed.  This management failure should not be ignored by Hermosa Beach residents because it is not too dissimilar to lack of management oversight in the BP Gulf Oil Spill.   

The exact volume of oil discharged is unknown, but estimates range from less than 450 bbl to 1,500 bbl.  The oil was discharged in a jet that shot straight up approximately 200-300 feet into the air along with natural gas, produced water, and sand.  The blowout continued for approximately 11 hours, at which point the discharge was stopped.  Several thousand acres of surface water in Lake Grande Ecaille, as well as the Gulf of Mexico, were covered by slicks or sheens from the incident, and approximately 1,233 acres (2 square miles) of wetlands (Hermosa Beach is 1.3 square miles) were exposed to oil.  Soon after the massive Hurricane Georges passed near the area four days later on September 26, 1998, causing the response efforts to be suspended effectively letting the company off the "cleanup hook".  However, 33.8 discount acre years of marsh was lost.  Read about the environmental damage from Steve Layton's oil spill.

Mr. Steve Layton received a warning letter on August 13, 1997 from the Department of Public of Health & Human Services of safety violations.  Was this related to the lack of management oversight?

Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Equinox Oil Company Den norske Bank, ASA, individually and as agent for BNP Paribas and Comerica Bank - Texas (the Bank Group) loaned over $106 million to Equinox and Alma.  

Equinox Oil Company Oil Spill Damage Assessment, Restoration Plan & Environmental Assessment Prepared by:
Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office/Office of the Governor
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
United States Fish and Wildlife Service

LIST OF PREPARERS
Chris Piehler Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
John de Mond Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Derek Hamilton Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
Dick Stanek  Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
Heather Finley Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Jim Hanifen Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Terry Romaire  Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Gina Muhs Saizan Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office, Office of the Governor
Chuck Armbruster Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office, Office of the Governor
Cheryl Brodnax National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Linda Burlington National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
John Iliff National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
John Kern National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Tony Penn National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Christy Poulos National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Buddy Goatcher United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Warren Lorentz United States Fish and Wildlife Service

Earthquakes From Drilling?

Ohio Earthquakes Linked to Natural Gas Drilling 

Read the LA Times Article

Enjoy this recent CBS News Story

One of the environmental impacts that we feel has not, was not adequately addressed initially and certainly now needs to be re-addressed, is the issue of earthquake hazards. And we have a declaration from Dr. David Jackson who's on the National Academy of Sciences.  Dr. David Jackson who's on the National Academy of Sciences. He is a respected geophysicist, was a professor at UCLA. He is on the California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council. And he said that the reinjection of water into the Hermosa Beach site, well the reinjection of water into any site will increase the likelihood of risk of earthquakes based upon an L.A. Times article and other studies that have come out recently about the fact that. Northridge has increased the risk of earthquakes in our basin. Read the State Lands Commission testimony transcript which he predicted in 1994 and its coming true in place like Ohio.

We are very concerned about the impact upon the oil and a as sanctuary in the Santa Monica Bay. Pipelines will go into the bay but could rupture in case of an earthquake. We're saving on the earthquake issue it wasn't properly considered by the by the city and now there's new information.  New studies indicate water re-injection increases the likelihood of earthquakes.