Residents Ask County to Protect the Environment & Community Health Moratorium on new oil drilling expires June 30th

LOS ANGELES, CA - Surrounded by the neighborhoods of Baldwin Hills, Baldwin Vista, Culver City, Crenshaw, Leimert Park, Ladera Heights, Inglewood, View Park and Windsor Hills, the two-square-mile Baldwin Hills Oil Field is the last large-scale undeveloped open space in South and West Los Angeles. The Oil Field has operated since 1924 without community oversight or an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to assess its impact on community health and safety. Now, the oil field operator, Plains Exploration and Production Company (PXP), proposes to expand operations and drill 1,000 new wells.

"We recognize the pressure to rely more on domestic sources for crude oil in this climate of escalating prices, but we need to tap local resources in a clean, "green" sustainable way-the way it is done in other communities," says Lark Galloway-Gilliam, Executive Director of Community Health Councils, an Alliance member. "Residents are asking the County to create a Community Standards District (CSD) that values the community's well being, conservation and environmental goals more than a barrel of oil."

The County has delayed the release of a draft Environmental Impact Report many times. The DEIR release was first pushed back from November 2007 to January 2008, to mid-May, then mid-June and now to just days before the moratorium on drilling ends. At the Press Conference, Alliance members will unveil their initial recommendations for the Baldwin Hills Community Standards District and ask PXP to enter into an agreement with the County to maintain the conditions of the moratorium until a final CSD is adopted by the Board of Supervisors. The Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance recommendations include:
Eliminate potential health risks and environmental impacts associated with the oil field operation through consolidation
Contain enforceable environmental and health protections including monitoring sanctions and penalties
Provide for the clean up and eventual transition of the land to parkland consistent with the Baldwin Hills Park Master Plan
Support residential living, open space, recreation, schools, critical habitats and improve the current aesthetics of the oil field
Establish oversight from a multi-sector advisory committee including residents
"The Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance will work with the community, the County, and PXP to ensure the Baldwin Hills are clean and green for all generations to come," according to Alliance member Robert Garcia, Executive Director and Counsel for The City Project.

Neighborhood groups, homeowners' associations and community-based organizations compose the Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance, which represents more than 50,000 households. The Alliance was convened by Community Health Councils and The City Project with technical support from the UCLA Department of Public Health to ensure community participation in the EIR/CSD development process. The Alliance is working to guarantee that drilling practices are compatible with the health and well being of its communities and with long-range conservation and environmental goals.

"The Alliance's CSD represents a reasonable and prudent balance of private interests in short-term profit, and public interests in livability, sustainability, health, and the environment," says Brian Cole, Project Manager, Health Impact Assessment Project, UCLA School of Public Health."

For a personal response, please contact:
The City Project
1055 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1660
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: (213) 977-1035 Fax (213) 977-5457
Email: info@cityprojectca.org