SB 1127, on Gov. Newsom’s desk, would stop oil and gas operations within 3,200 feet of homes from making wells deeper and extracting more oil.
Growing up in Wilmington, a heavily Latino community in the Harbor area of Los AngelesAshley Hernandez always felt the presence of the massive oil field near her home. As a child when she played with neighbors, she often brought a tissue to cover her nose to stop it from bleeding. Every time she touched a car or windowsill, it was covered with dark dust.
Warren Resources, drills for conventional oil and natural gas assets in the core of the Wilmington Field, adjacent to homes in Wilmington on Thursday, September 8, 2022.SB 1137 which is now on Governor Newsom’s desk, would change lives by restricting oil well drilling near homes, businesses and other human uses in California.
Residents and environmental activists are optimistic that after a long effort to make these protections happen, this time the bill will survive. In Los Angeles County alone nearly 1.89 million residents live near oil and gas operations — one of several California countries that produce large volumes of oil within the envisioned buffer zones in the bill. The other impacted counties include Kern, Ventura, Orange, and Santa Barbara, according to an analysis by the non-profit FracTracker Alliance.
“Our reliance on fossil fuels has resulted in more kids getting asthma, more children born with birth defects, and more communities exposed to toxic, dangerous chemicals,” Gov. Newsom said in a statement. “California is taking a significant step to protect the more than two million residents who live within a half-mile of oil drilling sites, many in low-income and communities of color.
Several miles from Wilmington, Baldwin Hills resident Irma Muñoz lives near another massive drilling site known as the Inglewood Oil Field. When she takes a walk in her neighborhood, she sees rusty pumpjacks bobbing up and down. Porter Ranch resident and former president of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council Issam Najm stood in 2017 near the entrance to the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility.
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