Politics & Government

Culver City Urges Governor to Veto New Fracking Bill

The City of Culver City sends a letter to Gov. Brown asking him to veto SB4 and calls for a ban on fracking.

The City of Culver City sent a letter to California governor Jerry Brown last week urging him to veto a new bill that would regulate the controversial practice of fracking.

SB-4, passed by the State Assembly last Wednesday, requires oil companies to obtain permits for fracking and acidizing, and would also require the companies to notify neighbors of their work, fully disclose to the public chemicals they use and also monitor ground water and air quality.

However, the way the city sees it, the bill excludes many fracking projects from meaningful environmental review and does not do enough to regulate the practice. Instead, the city called for a total ban on fracking until the practice is deemed safe

"The City is extremely concerned that these drilling practices will continue before meaningful environmental review is conducted, which is necessary to ensure protection of the health and safety of citizens of the State of California," the city wrote to Gov. Brown. "This lack of adequate review should provide you with an additional and critical reason to veto the bill and immediately put in place a moratorium on fracking and well stimulation while the State evaluates the risks."

The city also pointed to its own resolution that was passed after the community expressed concern about fracking in the areas around Culver City. The resolution, passed on July 2, urges a ban on fracking until "all necessary and appropriate actions are taken to adopt, implement and enforce comprehensive regulations concerning the practice of fracking."

"As the Inglewood Oil Field is the largest urban oil field in the nation and is located within and adjacent to Culver City and the County of Los Angeles, hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses have experienced impacts from oil operations in general," the city wrote in the letter to Brown. "There is significant public concern regarding the uncertain additional impacts that may have occurred, or may occur in the future, as a result of hydraulic fracking." 

In addition to Culver City's opposition to SB-4, multiple environmental groups, municipalities and anit-fracking groups have also voiced opposition to the bill and called for a total ban on fracking.

The full letter sent to Gov. Brown can be found on the city's website.



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