California lawmakers come to Hermosa Beach for oil hearing
State lawmakers will travel to Hermosa on Friday to hold an investigative hearing into the hazards of oil drilling, citing as a reason the defunct drilling project of Macpherson Oil Company, which is claiming breach of contract in a $700 million lawsuit against the city.
The issue of oil drilling in Hermosa was settled years ago when court rulings upheld the validity of a drilling-ban initiative approved by Hermosa voters. But at the time of the vote, Macpherson held a contract with the city for a drilling project, so the courts continue to ponder whether the company is owed damages for breach of contract.
Democratic State Assemblyman Pedro Nava of Santa Barbara, chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, said he sounded out Hermosa as a location “to help educate the public about what is involved when an oil company drills in an urban area.”
Nava said a close examination of the hazards of oil drilling is needed in the wake of a Louisiana oil rig explosion that is pouring 42,000 gallons of crude a day into the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead.
He said he did not know whether the full Assembly committee will show up for the hearing, set for 1 to 4 p.m. Friday at City Hall, 1315 Valley Drive at Pier Avenue.
DiVirgilio said he looks forward to working with the committee “to ensure Hermosa Beach and cities around the state can protect the health and safety of their residents by having the final say on whether dangerous oil-drilling and production projects will be located in their communities.”
“When an oil company proposed a massive project adjacent to homes, parks and businesses in Hermosa Beach, an independent analysis found the oil-drilling and production operation could have exposed the thousands of people living and working nearby to a catastrophic and potentially fatal explosion,” he said.
“The Hermosa Beach City Council took a courageous stand to protect the health and safety of residents by stopping a project that would have drilled up to 30 oil wells on a 1.3-acre site in the heart of Hermosa Beach.”
Macpherson had planned to slant-drill under the Pacific Ocean from a city-owned site at Sixth Street and Valley Drive. Following the voters’ approval of a drilling ban, the City Council in 1998 canceled Macpherson’s contract.
In addition to DiVirgilio, the mayors of Culver City and Carpinteria are scheduled to testify, along with regulators, industry officials and environmentalists. ER