Los Angeles County has filed an environmental lawsuit against oil and gas well operators to compel them to address dangers to human health and the environment caused by unplugged idle and exhausted oil and gas wells in the Inglewood Oil Field. An attorney for one of the oil companies said the suit was without merit.
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Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County has filed an environmental lawsuit against oil and gas well operators to compel them to address what lawyers called dangers to human health and the environment caused by unplugged idle and exhausted oil and gas wells in the Inglewood Oil Field.
The Los Angeles Superior Court complaint alleges that Sentinel Peak Resources California, Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas, Plains Resources and Chevron U.S.A. failed to properly decommission and plug exhausted and idle oil and gas wells, thereby causing toxic pollutants to leak into the air, land and water, leading to significant environmental harms and health risks to communities surrounding the oil field.
Sentinel Peak attorney Erin Gleaton issued a statement Dec. 10 stating that the lawsuit was filed without justification and that its allegations contradict years of scientific work conducted by the state and county.
“We are aware of the lawsuit that has been filed by the county of Los Angeles against Sentinel Peak Resources and want to be clear: The claims are entirely without merit,” Gleaton said. “This suit appears to be an attempt to generate sensationalized publicity rather than adjudicate a legitimate legal matter. We have full confidence in our position, supported by the facts and our record of regulatory compliance.”
The county Department of Public Health recently conducted a health assessment and environment justice study that found no evidence that oil field operations have caused health impacts in the community, according to Gleaton.
But county Supervisor Holly Mitchell defended the filing of the suit.
“We are making it clear to these oil companies that Los Angeles County is done waiting and that we remain unwavering in our commitment to protect residents from the harmful impacts of oil drilling,” Mitchell said. “Plugging idle oil and gas wells so they no longer emit toxins into communities that have been on the front lines of environmental injustice for generations is not only the right thing to do, it’s the law.
“At the very least, oil companies that have long profited from this land must uphold their responsibilities to properly close these wells and ensure they cause no further harm,” she added.
Mitchell’s district includes the oil field, and she has led ongoing county efforts to ban new oil and gas extraction and mandate the phase-out of existing drilling in unincorporated Los Angeles County.
More than a million people live within five miles of the Inglewood Oil Field, which is surrounded by homes and apartments as well as recreational, institutional, commercial and industrial uses. The county’s complaint alleges that over 25% of unplugged wells in the oil fields are idle and that more than 70 others are exhausted.
Yet, the oil and gas wells allegedly continue to emit toxins into the environment and surrounding communities that endanger the general health and the environment, officials said.
State regulations define an idle well as “any well that for a period of 24 consecutive months has not either produced oil or natural gas and an exhausted well as an oil well that yields an average daily production equal to or less than two barrels of oil.”
“This lawsuit demonstrates the county’s commitment to realizing our sustainability goals by addressing the impacts of the fossil fuel industry on frontline communities and the environment,” said Rita Kampalath, the county’s chief sustainability officer. “We are dedicated to moving toward a fossil-fuel free L.A, County.”
The complaint alleges that if the companies do not properly plug and decommission the wells, the state and taxpayers could have to pay the bill.
“The goal of this lawsuit is to force these oil companies to clean up their mess and stop business practices that disproportionately impact people of color living near these oil wells,” County Counsel Dawyn Harrison said. “My office is determined to achieve environmental justice for communities impacted by these oil wells and to prevent taxpayers from being stuck with a huge cleanup bill.”
The suit seeks civil penalties of up to $2,500 per day for each well that is in violation of the law.
