We will focus our next board meeting on the topic of The Termo Company’s proposal to expand their oil drilling efforts in Aliso Canyon. The board appointed an ad hoc committee to this specific matter in order to gather as much factual information as possible. We have invited special guest speakers including representatives from LA County Supervisor’s office, Assemblyman Scott Wilk’s office, and State Senator Fran Pavley’s office to present the pertinent information about the entire application process for Termo and to take questions from Porter Ranch residents and stakeholders. We urge the entire community to come out, ask questions and obtain as much information as possible.
Oil drilling in the area is nothing new. The Termo Company already has 14 wells in the Aliso Canyon area north of Porter Ranch and has been operating there for decades. On April 1, 2014 a representative from The Termo Company presented details of their project at a our board meeting. The company’s current proposal is to drill 12 new oil and gas wells on three separate pads covering 5.3 acres in the Aliso Canyon fields, which encompasses an old orchard, two pastures, and over 100 oak trees. The proposed project also includes improvements to the access roads, pruning of 131 oak trees, and the removal of one oak tree.
This area is what the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning deems a “Significant Ecological Area” or “SEA,” and thus Termo has filed for a Significant Ecological Area Conditional Use Permit (“SEACUP”) along with an Oak Tree Permit. The SEACUP process, according to LA County officials is the first of many review steps any applicant must hurdle through in order to be granted project approval, which in total can take anywhere from a couple of months to over one year.
At our July 8 board meeting, we passed a motion to draft a letter urging the County Department of Regional Planning to conduct an Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”). According to the County Supervisor’s office the EIR is not necessarily a compulsory phase of the application process. If an EIR is deemed not necessary than the SEACUP period could be the only opportunity for public comment, something the community should be mindfully aware of.
Needless to say this proposed project is not a simple topic and raises many questions for all residents of Porter Ranch and adjacent neighborhoods. One might ask if the drilling of oil on domestic soil, on a global scale, ultimately diminishes the need for spending billions of dollars overseas to import the energy source. Another might ask how the drilling of oil in our backyard might affect our quality of life including environmental issues, potential health hazards, and much more. And of course there is the “F” word: “fracking.” First of all, what is fracking? How does it really work and what are the known benefits and drawbacks? Will Termo utilize the technique or other similar “well stimulation” methods in their proposed drilling efforts? (Termo has stated that they do not plan to use fracking techniques in the proposed project, but has stated they have used them in past drilling efforts.)
Except for perhaps a few residents and stakeholders who may work in the planning or oil drilling industries, most of us including the PRNC are far from being fully educated on the topic, and thus probably far from making a judicious decision whether to support or oppose the project. Further questions may include, on one hand, if the community decides to support the project how will it directly impact and even benefit our neighborhood? On the other hand, if community members decide to oppose it what are the steps and venues they can utilize to voice their opposition in an effective and productive manner.
There are many questions to ask and much information to procure on this issue. It is our goal to provide a balanced platform for the community to come out and obtain as much necessary information as possible, and to allow everyone to voice their questions and concerns regardless of their position on the topic. It is of utmost importance for the community to take the time to do this. But also the clock is ticking on the application process and so moving with a sense of urgency and awareness is absolutely crucial.
For more information we encourage you to take a look through these websites and articles. They are dense, yes, but a lot of useful information is there. We are learning up on this stuff as well:
***We are maximizing our outreach efforts in order to ensure a strong attendance at this most important of community meetings. If you would like to volunteer and assist in getting the word out please contact seanorourke [at] prnc.org and ericnam [at] prnc.org. We have plenty of printed flyers if you’d like a stack or if you prefer to print a few on your own we have attached a PDF here for your convenience. Thank you in advance and we look forward to seeing you on August 6th at our NEW MEETING LOCATION:
Porter Ranch Community School
12450 N Mason Ave, Porter Ranch, CA 91326
Oil Flyer to Download
Agenda
