Los Angeles City Advocates Applaud Precedent-Setting Rule to Dismantle Toxic Oil Infrastructure and Urge LA City Council to Follow Suit
Los Angeles — On June 17, 2021, the Culver City Council voted in support of an ordinance that will phase out oil production and require the cleanup of well sites in the portion of the Inglewood Oil Field within Culver City’s borders within five years.
This decision comes after eight years of organizing and advocacy from Culver City residents and clean air and environmental advocates. Culver City is the first city in the nation to set a vision and a timeline for an amortization of existing oil extraction activity.
Prior to the vote, Culver City determined through an amortization study process that a five-year phase-out period provides an adequate time period to facilitate a “just transition” (i.e., training of workers and initiation of clean-energy programs), completion of environmental assessment and remediation studies and opportunity to outreach with oil field stakeholders (e.g. land owners and mineral rights holders).
In response to Culver City’s leadership, and as the Los Angeles City Council also considers a motion to look into phasing out oil drilling, the Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling — Los Angeles (STAND-LA) coalition released the following statement:
“We applaud the Culver City residents, environmental and clean air advocates and Culver City leadership for setting a national precedent to move their community beyond oil and gas extraction and toward a safer, healthier future. Within five years, the oil wells that currently drill and pollute in Culver City’s section of the Inglewood Oil Field—the largest urban oil field in the United States—could be replaced with more park space, cleaner air, and other community-beneficial uses.
This is an outcome that every community in Los Angeles deserves. The Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors must listen and learn from our neighbors in Culver City and work to phase out toxic oil drilling in communities of color, who are most severely impacted by fossil fuel pollution. Communities from South Los Angeles to Wilmington have been advocating for over ten years to see these toxic wells removed from their neighborhoods. Culver City has shared a model for what a responsible, rapid, and equitable just transition can look like—and it’s time for the rest of Los Angeles to follow suit.”
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Los Angeles — On June 17, 2021, the Culver City Council voted in support of an ordinance that will phase out oil production and require the cleanup of well sites in the portion of the Inglewood Oil Field within Culver City’s borders within five years.
This decision comes after eight years of organizing and advocacy from Culver City residents and clean air and environmental advocates. Culver City is the first city in the nation to set a vision and a timeline for an amortization of existing oil extraction activity.
Prior to the vote, Culver City determined through an amortization study process that a five-year phase-out period provides an adequate time period to facilitate a “just transition” (i.e., training of workers and initiation of clean-energy programs), completion of environmental assessment and remediation studies and opportunity to outreach with oil field stakeholders (e.g. land owners and mineral rights holders).
In response to Culver City’s leadership, and as the Los Angeles City Council also considers a motion to look into phasing out oil drilling, the Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling — Los Angeles (STAND-LA) coalition released the following statement:
“We applaud the Culver City residents, environmental and clean air advocates and Culver City leadership for setting a national precedent to move their community beyond oil and gas extraction and toward a safer, healthier future. Within five years, the oil wells that currently drill and pollute in Culver City’s section of the Inglewood Oil Field—the largest urban oil field in the United States—could be replaced with more park space, cleaner air, and other community-beneficial uses.
This is an outcome that every community in Los Angeles deserves. The Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors must listen and learn from our neighbors in Culver City and work to phase out toxic oil drilling in communities of color, who are most severely impacted by fossil fuel pollution. Communities from South Los Angeles to Wilmington have been advocating for over ten years to see these toxic wells removed from their neighborhoods. Culver City has shared a model for what a responsible, rapid, and equitable just transition can look like—and it’s time for the rest of Los Angeles to follow suit.”
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