Local News in Brief : Pro-Drilling Petitions In

Supporters of Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s controversial plans to drill for oil beneath the Pacific Palisades submitted to the city clerk Thursday what they said were more than 150,000 signatures to place on the November ballot a measure allowing on-shore drilling along Los Angeles’ coast.

The so-called “Los Angeles Public Protection, Coastal Protection and Energy Resources Initiative,” which stipulates that oil revenues be used to fund more police and other city services, is dueling with another city initiative that would ban drilling along Los Angeles’ coast within 1,000 yards inland of the mean high-tide line. Petitions for that measure, sponsored by Councilmen Marvin Braude and Zev Yaroslavsky, were submitted last week.

The city clerk is in the process of verifying signatures on both petitions. Both measures, which need 69,517 to qualify for the ballot, are expected to qualify, their leaders say.