Local News in Brief : Oil Drilling Repeal Gains
An effort to repeal the ordinances granting Occidental Petroleum Corp. the right to drill for oil in Pacific Palisades cleared its first legislative hurdle Thursday.
The Los Angeles City Council’s Planning and Environment Committee, after hearing arguments in the case, voted 2 to 1 to order the drafting of an ordinance to rescind the 1985 drilling laws.
Voting in favor were Michael Woo and Ruth Galanter, two council members who succeeded Occidental proponents Peggy Stevenson and Pat Russell, respectively. Woo and Galanter were also among eight members who recently signed Councilman Marvin Braude’s motion to repeal the drilling ordinances. Councilman Hal Bernson, who sided with Occidental in 1985, voted against the repeal.
Braude’s proposal must be considered by the city Planning Commission before it returns to the council for a vote. Occidental has sought the right to drill for oil in Pacific Palisades for nearly two decades.
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