WHAT:Zoning Administrator Hearing toreview and rule on illegal oil well conversions and other violations at the 4th Avenue Drill Site.
DATE: May 18, 2017
TIME: 9am
WHERE: City Hall (200 N. Spring, Room 1020)
The 4th Avenue Drill Site is located on Washington Blvd between 3rd and 4th Avenues, directly across the street from the LAUSD Carson Gore elementary school.
The LA Times reported that Council President Wesson said "a new operator [of the 4th Ave, Murphy, and Jefferson Drill sites], Sentinel Peak Resources [SPR], has been talking with his office about closing the [4th Ave] site and cleaning it up. No official plan has been drafted and details are scant, but Wesson said he was “unbelievably excited” about the idea, arguing it could pave the way to convert other local drilling sites." The LA Times also reported that Council President H.
City Council Motion for 4th Ave. drill site Nuisance Abatement Hearing:
Council President Herb Wesson will make a motion (attached) before Council directing LA City Planning to initiate a Nuisance Abatement Hearing regarding the 4th Ave. Drill Site.
The motion is in response to concerns raised by our community over the past year and through our Neighborhood Council (UNNC) about the operations and violations at the site as well as Planning’s unwillingness to uphold City code on oil and gas production.
July 28, 2016: The Zoning Administrator ruled AGAINST Freeport McMoRan Oil and Gas’s (FMOG’s) proposal to install a CEB 800 natural gas burning flare to burn 400,000 cubic feet of gas per day in the parkland at the Murphy Drill Site at 2126 W Adams Blvd. FMOG has filed an appeal to try to overturn the decision. Here are the basics of what you need to know, how to find out more, and what you can do, followed by a more detailed discussion of key elements of the case.
Freeport McMoRan Oil & Gas (FMOG) appealed the Zoning Administrator's (ZA) denial of its proposal to install a CEB 800 flare to burn 400,000 cubic feet of gas per day at the Murphy Drill Site on Adams Blvd. The ZA highlighted that the gas burner "...is not in the interests of the public’s health, welfare, and safety.”
June 30, 2016: The Zoning Administrator denied FMOG's request to install a CEB 800 flare to burn 400,000 cubic feet of gas per day at the Murphy Drill Site on Adams Blvd. The ZA highlighted that the gas burner "...is not in the interests of the public’s health, welfare, and safety.”
The Zoning Administrator in the Murphy Drill Site case:
Council President Herb Wesson supported our community opposing FMOG’s proposal to install a wasteful gas burning flare in the parkland (27th and St Andrews). He recently submitted a revised letter (see attached) to the Zoning Administrator joing our community in OPPOSING THE INSTALLATION OF THE BURNER ANYWHERE ON THE PROPERTY including in the active work area. In the attached new statement our council representative states:
“…Community residents are challenging the [FMOG] plan, arguing that it is wasteful to burn gas that could create electricity. And they are pressing for the city to scrutinize the environmental effects of drilling at the site — with or without the new burner.”