HOT ISSUE
No New Drilling In Populated Areas
Sign Petition Today!
Stand with us and tell the oil industry to take their record profits and build their business in unpopulated areas.
While most of our homes here in Carson were losing as much as 1/3 of its property value, the oil companies were making record profits. While we wait to see even a small increase in our investments, our city council is considering approval for 200 oil wells to operate in our back yards. If you live in Carson, Compton or Rancho Dominguez chances are they will be removing the oil from under your home.
I’ve yet to find anyone to speak up: “since the drilling started our property value has increased, the quality of life has improved or because of the oil companies our city is now self supporting”. To the contrary there are countless stories of how people are unable to sell their homes. The Carousal tract here in Carson is a perfect example of why we don’t want oil operations in populated areas. City officials have called for a state of emergency and months later Carson residents are still forced to live in their contaminated homes. These homes were built on top of an oil tank farm where the soil underneath is contaminated with high levels of methane and benzene. The American Petroleum Institute in 1948 stated that “it is generally considered that the only absolutely safe concentration for benzene is zero”. Benzene targets liver, kidney, lung, heart and the brain and can cause DNA strand breaks. Benzene causes cancer in both animals and humans.
If that is not enough… in 2010 there was an investigation into contamination found in the Monterey Pines community. January 2011 there was the discovery of light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL) and petroleum hydrocarbons polluting the surface water, groundwater and soil in and around the Dominguez Channel in the vicinity of East Carson Street. The US EPA is taking the lead and expects answers early 2013. Do we really need drilling and all that it will leave behind, back into our communities? I say we only need drilling to the extent of cleaning up the mess already made.
On a trip to learn about one of the four drill sites (disguised as islands) off the coast of Long Beach I spoke with a representative of Oxy. He told me “there’s only one place in California that does not have oil, and that’s Palos Verdes”. I asked him, “Why come to the City of Carson to drill, when you could select an unpopulated area?” His answer to me was “Because we can piggy back on the existing utilities. It’s more cost effective”.
The following 2 statements are taken from the Carson website: (http://ci.carson.ca.us/content/department/about_carson/growing_pains.asp)
Below is an article headline taken from a Los Angeles Times article:
(April 27, 2010|By Jeff Gottlieb, Los Angeles Times)
It’s time we the residents of Carson, Compton and Rancho Dominguez and surrounding communities come together and say, “not in our back yard. Build your wells in unpopulated areas and if we want to live anywhere near them we will build our homes around them! ”
How do we know the leaks we are experiencing here in Carson weren’t caused by the testing? The Newport Beach-Inglewood fault runs right through Carson and has had recent activity. Can the oil companies tell us without a doubt, that it was not their testing that has us shaking? Why take the risk? The oil companies need to use their record profits and build facilities in unpopulated areas. It’s time the oil companies take a responsible approach to doing business. Jeopardizing our natural resources or our people is unacceptable.
Keep this from happening to your community! Sign the online petition today. “No New Drilling in Populated Areas”
Or, print a hard copy “No New Drilling in Populated Areas” to have your friends and family sign.
You can read about these plans on the Carson website Proposed Oxy Oil Exploration Project