Expanded oil drilling approved in LA County

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County supervisors approved new regulations that will govern expanded oil drilling near southwest Los Angeles.

Residents who live near the oil field in Baldwin Hills expressed their concerns at the Board of Supervisors meeting. The board then voted unanimously to approve the new rules Tuesday.

Last week, the board created a Community Standards District that gives the county regulatory authority.

The regulations limit the number of new wells to 24 for the first year, and the total number to 600 over the next 20 years. Only 53 wells can be drilled per year and only 45 of those can be new wells.

Supervisor Yvonne Burke, whose district includes the oil field, said state law allows the field's operator, Houston-based Plains Exploration and Production Co., to start drilling anyway, so the new rules would reduce any negative effects.

Plains Exploration has been operating under an interim ordinance passed by the board on June 27, 2006, which was extended twice before it expired June 26. The second extension of the ordinance placed a one-year moratorium on the drilling of new wells and the deepening of existing wells.

The 1,000-acre oil field produces 9,000 barrels of oil daily from 436 active wells. Plains Exploration has been operating the field since 1924.

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