By a unanimous vote of the Culver City City Council, on July
2 we became the first city in California to call for a statewide ban against fracking.
KTLA Channel 5 proclaimed the vote “historic.”
Before the City Council weighed in, 24 speakers urged the
City Council to recommend to the state either a ban or a moratorium on
fracking. Much attention during the
meeting was paid to the terms “moratorium” and “ban.” After all, a ban implies
that fracking will never be allowed. Period.
Ideally the City Council would have considered what many of
us were asking for: a ban on fracking in and under Culver City. But it was
clear from the outset of the July 2 meeting that only a resolution regarding
the state would be addressed.
Fracking is well described on the website of Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community, an
organization co-founded by Culver City resident Paul Ferrazzi. It reads: “Hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’, is a
process in which dangerous chemicals, mixed with enormous amounts of water,
polymers and sand, are injected thousands of feet underground at pressures high
enough to cause seismic explosions and create and prop open fissures in the
sediment. This allows oil and natural gas to more easily escape and flow out of
the strata to the producing wells.”
Frankly, we will never really be safe until fracking is
banned throughout the world. But we’ve got plenty to do just getting bans in
Culver City, LA County and the remainder of the state.
On the one hand, we activists are in a hurry. Why? Because
we have absolutely no assurance that fracking is not going on right now. No
moratorium on fracking is in place. And PXP is under no obligation to report
its activities. So everything that we’re terribly concerned about—an
enormous earthquake causing death and
destruction, the waste of many millions of gallons of water, pollution of the
water in our aquifers, methane and possibly other pollutants in our air, and
the many health problems associated with fracking, including cancer, asthma and
possibly birth defects—could be occurring now or could be about to happen.
On the other hand, we know it will probably take many
meetings, e-mails, speeches, letters to the editor, etc. before we are able to
secure the safety of Culver City residents and people throughout the state—at
least as it pertains to fracking.
Before I delve into what we’ve been doing in the days since
that historic resolution, I’ll take you back to July 2.
The resolution drafted for the City Council’s consideration
was for a moratorium, not a ban. The City had widely distributed its draft
resolution, which recommended a moratorium on fracking to the State of
California. But person after person strode to the microphone during the public
comment period, nearly each of them calling for a ban against fracking. Their
demands and pleas gave Councilperson Meghan Sahli-Wells the ammunition she
needed to urge a ban rather than a moratorium.
She declared to all of us: “We have to be bold. The state
needs pressure. We don’t have time to mess around. The message really does
matter. ‘Ban’ sends a strong message.”
Councilman Jeff Cooper backed her up. “The word ‘ban’ shows
we’re serious. We should let the state know how we really feel.”
In a lengthy speech about fracking and its dangers to the
environment, Councilmember Sahli-Wells made it clear to all in the audience that
she’d heard our concerns and shares them. The applause was long and loud—as
close to a standing ovation as I’ve seen in the chambers.
Although Councilpersons Mehaul O’Leary and Jim Clarke stated
they favored a moratorium, Mayor Andy Weissman requested the five-person body
to achieve a consensus, and eventually the vote was unanimous: 5-0 in favor of
a ban.
Unfortunately the City Council’s resolution falls short of
recommending an outright ban. Instead it urges Governor Jerry Brown and the California
State Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal
Resources (DOGGR) to place a ban on hydraulic fracturing “until DOGGR takes all
necessary and appropriate actions to adopt, implement and enforce comprehensive
regulations concerning the practice of fracking that will ensure that public
health and safety and the environment will be adequately protected.”
The resolution was nothing more
than a request to the state. California might or might not pass a ban or moratorium.
If California does not pass either, Culver City will have absolutely no
protection prior to regulations being put in place. And goodness knows how
effective or ineffective those will eventually be.
But there is value to the resolution. In the weeks leading
up to the city council meeting, residents became further educated, and in the
course of considering the resolution, the City Councilpersons learned much more
about fracking and were further impressed with the level of concern residents expressed.
Next our City Councilpersons began to address the request
for a ban “in and under” Culver City. We knew from the outset that they
wouldn’t be voting on the matter that night. After much discussion two
agreements were reached: the members need far more information before making
any decisions. And fracking needs to be considered within the overall framework
of updating and finalizing the city’s oil drilling ordinance. Mayor Andy
Weissman directed city staff to demand information from PXP—“by subpoena or
otherwise.”
Although many of us think it’s impossible for regulations to
adequately protect us, Jim Clarke’s statement still gives me some hope. He told
us: “Oil drilling is the most environmentally negative and risky thing we do in
Culver City with or without fracking. We need to lobby DOGGR to create regulations on fracking that will
protect us. If their regulations do not sufficiently protect us, then we ban
fracking.”
The mayor stated that the city council will address the oil
ordinance in 45 or 60 days.
Meanwhile, the organizing is continuing. A group of us—some
from Frack-Free Culver City, others representing Food & Water Watch and Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community—spoke
out at a recent meeting of the Mar Vista Community Council. In an effort
similar to Culver City’s, they were considering a resolution to recommend a fracking
ban to Mayor Villaraigosa, the County Board of Supervisors and the Governor.
Our presentations were well received, and the resolution to urge the city,
county and state to ban fracking was passed by an overwhelming margin.
A few days ago, some Frack-Free Culver City members attended
a Water Board meeting and heard heart-rending testimony about the harm caused
by oil wells in Carson.
Other organizing is going on as well. Anyone interested in
joining forces with Frack-Free Culver City can e-mail us at makeccsafe@gmail.com.
Rebecca Rona-Tuttle is a leader in Frack-Free Culver City and a Member and former Co-Chair of the Culver City Martin Luther King Planning Committee.
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