On June 2, 2015, Councilmember Mitchell Englander issued a letter to Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning asking they the County complete an Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in addition to an Environmental Impact Report for the purpose of informing "...the local community about the potential health impacts of the proposed project."

Englander noted that the City of Hermosa Beach conducted an HIA when considering an oil drilling project. He provided the executive summary of the report and identified their categories as, "air quality; water and soil; upset scenarios; noise and light; traffic; and community livability."

Councilmember Englander's concerns are consistent with concerns emphasized by members of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council during meetings on the proposed project.

Read Councilmember Mitchell Englander's Letter

The public comment deadline has been extended to June 11. Comments may also be sent directly to Iris Chi at ichi [at] planning.lacounty.gov

View County Planning Case for this Proposal

Scoping Meeting

The Scoping Meeting was conducted by Iris Chi of Los Angeles County Planning on Wednesday, May 20 at the Porter Ranch Community School. She clarified that County Regional Planning is the lead organization on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which is being conducted by an independent body, MRS. MRS was hired by the County and is being paid by Termo, in an "arms-length" transaction. This is standard protocol that the developer pays for the EIR. The study could require six months.

MRS specializes in EIRs for oil drilling projects. Their study will take into consideration the proposed project and any cumulative effects from existing wells. They will likely consider many factors including air quality, habitats, geology and more. Their recommendations could range from do nothing, reduce the number of drilling locations, to full approval.

A lively discussion was held by the sizable crowd on the topic of fracking. It was made clear that the project does not include fracking and that if Termo wanted to frack they would have to re-apply. There was additional concern that other drilling processes that are not called fracking also use lots of water and harmful chemicals.

There will be many other opportunities for public comment in this process. It should also be noted that EIR is just an advisory report to the County Supervisors, who may vote however they wish.

Scoping Meeting Presentation

More about the Proposed Project