LOS ANGELES >> The Board of Supervisors called today for a detailed inventory of all oil fields operating within Los Angeles County, along with recommendations to ensure consistent regulation.
Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Hilda Solis proposed the review in the wake of a recent report by the California Council on Science and Technology about how hydraulic fracturing or fracking and acid well stimulation — processes used to extract oil — could impact air and water quality, seismic activity, wildlife, vegetation and human health.
The report raised concern among constituents about the Inglewood Oil Field, one of the largest urban fields nationwide.
Ridley-Thomas and representatives from several county departments, including Public Health, said the Inglewood Oil Field is extensively monitored for air and groundwater quality as well as noise.
“The Inglewood Oil Field has more protections than other oil fields in the state,” Ridley-Thomas said. “However, we must ensure that adequate protections continue at Inglewood Oil Field and that other fields in cities and unincorporated areas throughout the county are monitored and safely operated.”
Oil drilling began in 1916 on the site, a portion of which is in the unincorporated Baldwin Hills area, bringing it under the county’s jurisdiction.
There have been two instances of hydraulic fracking, in 2011 and 2012, but because of the nature of the soil, it was deemed an inefficient way to extract oil and no fracking has taken place since, according to the county.
Because most of the county’s soil is porous and doesn’t respond well to hydraulic fracturing, the technique is typically not used here, staffers told the board.
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl asked about the health risks.
A health survey of 1,000 residents found the incidence of disease and other health outcomes to be the same in Inglewood as throughout the county, a public health official told the board.
However, such studies typically involve sample sizes too small to be definitive and may fail to detect a higher incidence of a very specific form of cancer, for example. So the county’s focus is on limiting emissions and exposure rather than tracking outcomes after the fact.
“We’re monitoring and doing everything we can to minimize exposure,” Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, the county’s top health official, told the board.
In addition to the inventory, which is expected back in four months, the board directed legislative advocates to push for statewide legislation funding studies on the environmental and health impacts associated with oil and gas production.