Drilling down into the Hermosa Beach oil deal
Oily past
The history of oil battles in Hermosa goes back 80 years.
Near the beginning of the 1900s, seesaw style oil derricks were pumping up and down on locations along Sixth and First streets. Then in 1932 Hermosa voters banned oil drilling within the city limits.
In 1958 Shell Oil wanted to drill in Hermosa, and paid $500,000 for the chance to hold city elections to strike down the drilling ban. Shell failed to rescind the ban, but still paid the city the half million, which was used to help build a city pier that later was replaced with the current one.
In 1984 Hermosa voters approved Measure P and Measure Q, allowing limited oil drilling, in part to fund a city purchase of the greenbelt parkway that runs the length of the town.
In 1986 the City Council awarded a lease to Macpherson Oil Company for the slant-drilling project on a city maintenance yard atSixth StreetandValley Drive. In 1992 the lease contract was renewed.
In 1993 the group Hermosa Beach Stop Oil filed a lawsuit alleging that Macpherson’s project would violate state law as well as Measures P and Q. (The oil money was no longer needed for the greenbelt, which the city bought with voter-approved bonds.)
In 1995 Hermosa voters approved Measure E, which was backed by Stop Oil and once again banned all drilling in the city.
The City Council questioned whether the measure applied to drilling already under contract, and in 1997 Stop Oil filed another lawsuit aimed at forcing the city to halt Macpherson’s project, contending that it was indeed banned under Measure E.
In September 1998 the City Council halted the project by unilaterally canceling Macpherson’s lease contract, declaring the project too hazardous to the safety of Hermosans.
In December 1998 Macpherson filed its own lawsuit, alleging breach of contract by the city.